RSCL
by UltimateEnigmatic
Summary: Beacon Academy; a facility in which aspiring youths gather in hopes of becoming Huntsmen and Huntresses. This is a story that follows four of them. Four juveniles who were childhood friends at one point. Four individuals with their off-set quirks that make them, RaSCaLs.
1. Prologue: R

(?'s POV)

So here I am on an airship on course to Beacon Academy. I am about to embark on a journey that will change my life forever. What follows is exactly what happened on how I got to where I am now…

1 Hour Ago…

It all started with one fateful conversation. I was walking straight to General James Ironwood's office, the current military leader of Atlas. My father is a close associate to him. We moved to Atlas from Vacuo when work demanded it. I arrived at General Ironwood's office door. I took one deep breath, and sub-sequentially knocked on the door. I heard his firm voice from the other side. "Come in."

He had recognized me from before and was quick to point it out. "Hello. I believe we have already met. You are Corporal Montague's son, correct?" I responded accordingly. "Correct. Roderick Oliver Montague in your presence." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I was able to hide it. "So, what brings you here? Did your father send you here for anything?" General Ironwood had asked. It was not uncommon that my father needed a request from General Ironwood but his work could not permit him to leave. Instead, he had me ask General Ironwood in his stead. This was not one of those times. "I'll be blunt Sir. I am asking for transportation to Beacon Academy. I have been accepted there and intend to attend the aforementioned academy." I noticed General Ironwood's eyebrow raise. "You had planned on attending Atlas academy to become a Huntsman if I am not mistaken. So why the sudden change of heart?" He asked. My expression became solemn…

 _*Flashback Begins ; 7 Hours Ago*_

 _It was in the educational facility before Atlas Academy. The last class had just been let out. I was walking home with a group of people who knew me. I was actually quite popular in school. My "friends" were engaging in quite some hearty banter. I was also involved. The conversation went well, all up until one question was asked. "So, have you heard that they are allowing Faunus to become Huntsmen?" One of my friends had asked. "Yeah. I can't believe they're letting those anthropomorphic beasts do such things." Another had replied. "All those abominations are good for is cannon fodder." It went on and on. "It's a wonder how they've been able to HAVE a society. "We really ought to do something about them." "I completely agree. I mean, our inaction is what caused the White Fang to become powerful in the first place." In my head, there was turmoil. How badly I wanted to snap at them. This wasn't the first time my "friends" had talked so negatively about the Faunus. It also would not be the last time they would talk about them in such a way. But I decided it would be the last time I'd be around to hear it. "So, what do you think Roderick?" The first one asked. I saw my home on the right, a perfect excuse to leave the group. "My home is actually right here. Farewell." I left the group right then and there. I then went online to fill my application to Beacon Academy. 5 Hours later, I was approved._

 _*Flashback Ends*_

"I will remain blunt Sir. I refuse to associate with my peers' bigotry." I had given my answer. I had prepared myself for both acceptance and denial. It felt like an hour had passed in silence. Then General Ironwood gave his answer. "Very well. The next airship to Vale arrives in 50 minutes and departs 20 minutes afterwards. If you plan on packing your things, you'd have 15 minutes to do so if you want to make it. I trust that you'll be in good hands with Ozpin there." And there we go. "Thank you, Sir. I will come back once I have graduated. Until we meet again." I turned and went for the door. Before I could reach it, however, General Ironwood gave one last piece of advice. "Oh, and do try to keep your temper in control. I'd hate to see you get in trouble because of it. Your father wouldn't let you hear the end of it. Or I for that matter." I chuckled slightly. "I'll do my best, Sir." I That was when I left. After packing the essentials, I had made my way to the airport. General Ironwood was right. After I spent 14 minutes packing, the ship was ready to depart in 6 minutes. After boarding the ship, it made it's was to Beacon, with me in it.

So here I am now, en route to Beacon. What waits ahead of me, even I don't know. All that I know is that my journey had just begun. I had said one last thing to myself; "I don't know what the future holds. But I know that I am prepared for what it has for me."

 **Author's Notes**

 **I am well aware that I do not have a visual description of Roderick. I will give that to you in the first chapter along with the other members of RSCL. And no, the prologues do not count. There will be a prologue for all four members. Maybe leave his appearance to your imagination before I give their actual appearances. I do not know how consistent the upload schedule will be, so you may be waiting for updates for a while. But I do not intend on cancelling this project, and I will be uploading Prologue: S tomorrow. Also, this should go without saying, but I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own team RSCL. Anyways, here's hoping this becomes a success. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	2. Prologue: S

(?'s POV)

Where do I begin? From my childhood? From the big move? I honestly don't know. All I know is that I know what I'm doing with myself. I'm going to Beacon to become a Huntress. One that will hopefully make Remnant a better world to live in.

I guess I should start with how I decided on becoming a Huntress in the first place. I'll say this; Mistral is not be the most welcoming environment, especially in the lower parts. I missed Vacuo. Sure, we had to fight for our survival at first, but once we adapted, it was actually quite homely. But Mistral wasn't as hospitable as one might think. Well, the lower parts of it at least. My family lived on the border of upper and lower Mistral, so we saw our fair shares of the good and bad of Mistral. What I focused on was the bad. One particular bad in, particular. I was told by someone that no matter where you went, unless it was Vacuo, Faunus would be discriminated by, at least, one person. I hated it.

So, what did I do when I saw a shy Faunus boy getting mugged by some meathead who hated their guts? What do you think I did? I'll give you 15 seconds. Time's up.

 _*Flashback Begins; 7 Hours Ago*_

 _"Hey, freak! Yeah you! Git your foxtail over here!" The jerk hollered. He then sprinted towards him. I'm guessing his semblance was being good at speed, but poor turning. When the kid took a turn, the oppressor struggled to stop and turn towards the kid's direction. Unfortunately, the kid ran into a dead end and the man pinned him against the wall. Thankfully, I knew a shortcut to get where the kid was going, but the man still got a hold of the poor kid. "Got ya you little mutant! Now here's what's going to happen. You're gonna give me everything you've got, from whatever you got in your pockets to the clothes off your back. Then I might let you go free. Deal?" I could feel the kid cowering in absolute fear. Without a second thought, I stepped in. "HEY UGLY!" The man immediately turned around towards me. "What the bloody hell you want? Can't you see I'm…" I didn't let him finish. I could've, but did I really want to? "He's just a little kid. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I knew what I was getting myself into. Even if I didn't win, it would still buy enough time for the kid to escape. Worst case scenario, the mugger has his way with me. But I didn't care. "What, you mean like you, ya wench?" I didn't notice at the time but, the more I think about it, me and the robber were about the same height. Regardless, I think you know what happens. "Actually, yes!" I rushed in towards him and got in a quick sucker punch. The man immediately focused his entire attention towards me. He must have activated his semblance to charge at me. I'll give credit where it's due, he was pretty strong. Got in a big hit on me. But… "What the, why didn't you get sent back? That was my semblance powered punch!" HE was just as confused as the kid was. "Yeah, I know. Really hurt my gut too. But that's just MY semblance. I can't be knocked back. You can't move me no matter how hard you tried. Still hurts though. Like, seriously hurts." I don't know why but, THAT'S what turned everything around. "What the hell? You freak of nature! You're more demented than the Faunus! I'm out of here!" With that, the man turned and left in a panic. I was a little disappointed. I really wanted a tussle. "Didn't say I enjoyed it. That's more of HIS forte." I said this to myself, referencing one of my friends from Vacuo. When I least expected it though, the fox Faunus jumped and hugged me. "T-Thank you kind lady." I could see the tears in his eyes. "Don't mention it kid. What's your name anyhow?" I guess it couldn't hurt to know, even though I might not see him again. "I-It's Kidd. Kidd Clementine." I smiled. It was cute. "I'm Stella Copperpot Capulet. Nice to meet you, cutie." I could see a little blush on his face, but he was starting to smile. "Why did you save me?" Well, what other reason was there? "It was the right thing to do." Then he asked one question that would be the turning point of my life. "Are you a Huntress?" I gave an honest answer. "No, actually. Though I did make a weapon of my own back home. Honestly, I didn't even consider BECOMING one. Up until now that is. It felt good to protect someone like you, ya know?" The kid's smile grew brighter. "T-Then you should do it! Be someone who can help others. Like me!" That's what one me over. His innocent little smile was all the confirmation I needed. "Alright Kidd, I'll do it for you I guess." After making sure Kidd got home safely, I went home and filled out an application for many academies. Shade, Atlas, and Haven were three good choices. But ultimately, Beacon accepted me first._

 _*Flashback Ends*_

So here I am about to board the next Airship to Beacon. There was no turning back now. As I walked the steps to get on board, I took one last look at the Mistral sky. It must have been my imagination, but I could've sworn I saw Kidd's smile in the night sky. Maybe the stars aligned in that shape on purpose. With my weapon in hand, and my spirits high, I finally got on board the airship as it departed for Beacon. "Well, Kidd. I'm off to become a Huntress. Wish me luck!" I said, knowing fully well Kidd wasn't here. Hm, I wonder if there will be anyone at Beacon who'll give me a good fight?

 **Author's Notes**

 **Once again, no visual description of Stella until the first chapter is released. I still have the C and L prologues too, so don't expect it too soon. Especially since Prologue C's release date will be 8/9. Like I said, the consistency of the updates is going to be staggered so I can't guarantee that you won't be left wanting more after a chapter. Also, this should go without saying, but I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Team RSCL and Kidd Clementine. Kidd is the only named original side character and as far as I know, he isn't an OC in another RWBY fanfic. You might see more of Kidd later in this Fanfic when we get to the events of Volume 5, avoiding spoilers if you haven't watched it yet, for some reason. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	3. Prologue: C

(?'s POV)

Uh, Hello? So, I'm going to tell you my story. Of how I got into Beacon. And why I'm trying to become a Huntress. I really don't think I'm cut out for this, but a friend of mine told me I won't know unless I try. So, I'll tell my story now, if that's okay?

So, Hi! I'm Chihiro Lazuli Ariado. I'm from Vacuo, but I moved to Vale… The neighborhood was pretty friendly. The one I lived in, I guess. There were some nice faces there too. There were the Bee Faunus family a few feet down the street, the Honeysickles I think they were called. There were also my next-door neighbors, the Seafarings. They really enjoyed underwater expeditions. I heard that they even own their own submarine. There were also the nice family across the street. If I remember correctly, it was the Xiao Longs? I think that's what they were.

I didn't even consider doing wat I was about to do until she gave me the push I needed. Oh wait, you don't know who she is do you? Well she was a vibrant blonde, had a fiery spirit, vivid blue eyes, and had one amazing and striking fi… No! Bad Chihiro! Get it together! Now's not the time to think about such things. Especially not her nice, perfect… No No NO! Stop it brain! Let's, just get to the point here before I go too far. Yeah, I'm a pervert. And not a one-gender biased one either. I'd be fine with anyone who catches my eye. Like how… Nope! Not going into deeper detail.

Anyhow, the conversation that kickstarted my life. It went something like this;

 _*Flashback Begins; 7 Hours Ago*_

 _I was taking a walk around the neighborhood, hoping to find someone to talk to. It didn't seem like someone was home. I wanted someone I knew to consult me about my confidence problem. But after three loops around the block, I had lost hope. I hung my head down as I walked home. Of course, I didn't see where I was going so I ended up running into someone. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking. It was my… fault…" When I looked up, I saw her. "Eh, it's fine. Hey, you live across the street, don't you? I think I've seen you before." She was so friendly and so, optimistic. I could tell by her tone of voice. "Yeah, that's right. I'm Chihiro. Nice to meet you." I was trying to hide it, but my eyes were shaking, and my head was a nervous wreck. But I needed this talk, so I powered through it. Thankfully she didn't notice. Or she did notice but didn't address it. "I'm Yang. Nice to meet you too! So, what brings you out here? I barely ever saw you in school, and you almost never come out of your house." This was it. Now or never. I had to tell her. Hopefully she would help me. "Uh, I want to become a Huntress, but I don't think I'm really ready for it. I think I'm a little too shy to be a great one." I waited for a response. It didn't take very long to get one. "Well, you won't know unless you try. What's your semblance?" I didn't expect THAT to be the first question she asks. I was thinking she'd ask about my credentials or my power. Well, she asked the question and I decided to answer. "Well, I have the ability to bend gravity. But I can only focus on one object, and the more mass it has, the harder it is to control." I thought it was pretty weak actually. Sure, it saved a few pots being broken, but I didn't think it was good. But, of course, Yang didn't see it the way I did. "That's neat! I mean, think about it. You could stop someone from getting away. Or you could hold something in place to help someone get out of a dangerous place." It never occurred to me that I could use my semblance that way. "Oh. Uh, I guess I could do that. But what about my-" I was stopped before I could finish. "Listen, confidence may be good to have, but you don't absolutely need it to be a Huntress. And even so, you don't have to be a GREAT Huntress. Just one that can help people when they need you. So there's no harm in at least trying, is there?" There was the boost I needed. "You're right. Thank you. I think I will try to become a Huntress." That approving smile of hers only solidified my drive. "You're welcome. And who knows? Maybe you'll see me again. I know you want to. I saw you checking me out." Well, I knew she was messing with me a little there. Didn't stop me from blushing furiously. "Uh…" Okay, maybe I was looking. I ran home, seeing as it was right across from Yang's house. I didn't even realize that's where I was until now. So I went and applied at Beacon. I was nervous because of two reasons. One, it was entirely possible I'd get rejected. Two, my father saw me filling my application. "So, you're going to be a Huntress now Chihiro?" I could only look at him. I was scared that he might tell me to back out, but that didn't happen. "I'm proud of you. Little by little, you might just get over your shyness. Just be careful, okay Chihi? I love you, and I don't want to see you hurt." Then I was happy for two reasons. One, my father wanted me to do this. Two, the results came in, and I was approved. Actually, there were three reasons. "Here you go Chihiro. I made it especially for you, waiting for this day to come. I kind of knew this is what you wanted. It should help increase your semblance and it can do more." Dad had given me a bright orange glove with a cerulean hexagram on the palm. I put it on. It felt comfortable. "Thank you, dad. I guess I'll be going now." "Good luck Chihi. I'm rooting for you."_

 _*Flashback Ends*_

And now I'm on board an airship headed towards Beacon. I can't wait. I was looking forward to it. And I was completely nervous about it. It was a whole new place I've never been to in addition of having new faces I've never met. Or at least, that's what I thought. Someone ran by me looking quite green. I'm guessing he had nausea or something. When I looked in the direction he was running, I saw her again. I had no idea she was going to be a Huntress too, and at the same academy no less. "Yang? Is that you?" "Oh, hey Chihiro! Fancy this, huh? Oh, meet my sister, Ruby."

 **Author's Notes**

 **Raise your hand if you expected Chihiro meeting Yang and Ruby. Anyone? Okay, it's just me I guess. If you haven't caught on yet, it seems that every team member originated from Vacuo, but moved to another kingdom. So, if we seen Atlas, Mistral, and Vale already, then there should be someone who's from Vacuo and stayed in Vacuo. Right? You'll find out in Prologue: L, which comes out tomorrow. After that, I'm going to have to re-watch RWBY for the fourth time to tie it all together. And before you ask these two questions, here are the answers. Yes, Chihiro's appearance isn't known yet. It will be given at the first chapter. And yes, this story will follow canon, but deviate from it a little for a more original appeal. Every major event in RWBY will still happen, but it will be given in RSCL's point of view. And them being there just might change fate. And once again, I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters. I only own Team RSCL. Also, who's hyped for Volume 6? Comes out this October. Can't wait to see… Nope! Not spoiling anything. Anyhow; Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	4. Prologue: L

(?'s POV)

Isn't it cliché? How everything always seems to be peaceful all the time? I don't have anything against it. Don't fix what's not broken, I guess. Honestly, it's times like these in which I reminisce of everything. Especially my childhood with my friends before the moved to the scattered ends of Remnant. They were good people, and just about anyone could get along with at least one of them. Me? I'm a special case. If it weren't for my friends, I'd be a shut-in. While I'm not in danger of my health now, my friends moving away has made me, somewhat truant. Just about anywhere I go, I just want to be lazy no matter how trivial or significant it may be. I don't know why, I just find the good and bad of everything to be boring.

Well, not everything. If there's one thing I always enjoyed, it was taking things apart and putting them together again. Heck, my semblance lets me do just that as easy as breathing. I've repaired machines, constructed vehicles, and dismantled devices. Anything that can be built, I can do it faster. If I know how it gets put together at least. Come on, don't give me those looks of truancy. First of all, that's just who I am. Second of all, you try disassembling something you've never seen then putting it back together again. Not easy is it? Yeah, that's what I thought. Oh right, I guess I should tell you why I decided to become a Huntsman.

 _*Flashback Starts; 9 Hours Ago*_

 _I honestly couldn't tell you how many times I've had to settle petty disputes in my homeland of Vacuo. Sure it's climate is awful, but we survive. Sometimes, however, our citizens tend to just become unsettled with something. It didn't matter how big or small the problem was, there was always something someone would complain about and force their headache onto someone else. What I do about it is use common sense and give both sides of the meaningless argument to simplest solution. Like my grandfather always said; "The simplest solution is usually the correct one." I saw it that way. Most of the time. Someone went out and asked me; "Hey, what do you want to do with your life?" And I answered; "I just want to do whatever I can to help people out. Even if I'd prefer to just relax, sometimes you just need to put your wants aside for other's needs." Then this happened; "Spoken like a true Huntsman. Hey, you should apply to a Huntsman academy. Maybe somewhere that's not in Vacuo though. You seem bored of seeing the same old thing each day. Maybe some new sights will put a little bit more perspective in our life." Oh joy. On one hand, it's always nice to have an escape from the old grind. On the other hand; "So what happens when I get bored of the new stuff?" This person just always seemed to have the answer to everything. "Well, at least you'll have some new friends. I also noticed when your friends left Vacuo, you've become more downcast that you once were." Eh, it was sad but true. "Fine, why not? What's the worst that could happen? And who knows? Maybe I'll meet my old friends there too." That was a joke. There's no way that would happen. So after I went through the process of application, I was approved into Beacon. First try I guess. I'd have gotten on an airship there sooner, but my lazy brain decided to have me take a nap and I missed the first airship there. Fortunately, there was another one that had arrived just as the other left._

 _*Flashback Ends*_

What? You expecting some intricate backstory? Nah, I don't do those. I'm just doing this because I can do it, because I want to do it, and because I had nothing else better to do. Oh, of course. Me and my laziness. I never mentioned my name. Leichter Sangria Xandercat. There happy. I'd tell you what I look like, but I'm too lazy to bother. Maybe later. Right now, I'm just waiting to arrive at Beacon. Oh, it seems I didn't have to wait long. I just arrived there… You have got to be kidding me. It was a joke. I never expected to see one of my old friends here, but whoop-de-do. Now I'm starting to wonder if the others are here too. "Hey! Leichter! Long time no see!" "Yeah, you too Stella."

 **Author's Notes**

 **And the last prologue is done. I'm just going to say it right now. The first chapter of this story is coming on 8/12. Need some time to cross-transpose the original story with this one. By the way; the first actual chapter will begin in, surprise surprise, Ruby's POV. Did you think that since this story is focusing on Team RSCL's point of view that I would neglect the other characters? Nah, they all deserve some time in the limelight, even if they aren't the main focus. Also, I wanted to follow-up on Chihiro meeting Ruby and reuniting with Yang. Of course, Roderick, Leichter, and Stella will meet the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR as well. Speaking of Leichter, say it with me, his appearance will not be shown until the first actual chapter of the story. Good news though, you won't have to wait long. Let the real story begin. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	5. Chapter I: Shining Lights

(Ruby's POV)

So, Vomit Boy just stumbled past us. I guess the view of the world below wasn't for everyone. What a way to ruin a good moment. "I wonder who we're gonna meet." Yang told me enthusiastically. "I just hope they're better than 'Vomit Boy'." I was not as enthusiastic as Yang. But hey, what a coincidence that we meet someone right as we talk about who we meet. Well, I guess, for Yang, it's not the first time she'd seen them. "Yang? Is that you?" We turned towards the voice.

Wow, she was short. Shorter than me! And I was only fifteen. She either was just as old as me, or she hasn't had her growth spurt yet. Her short, yet wavy cornflower blue hair covered her right eye, which I would assume is a deep blue, since that was what her left eye was. She wore a teal sweatshirt with top part of it being instead a powder blue, all the way from her neck to her shoulders. There was a tangerine-colored bow tie where the two shades of blue met on the front of her shirt. She had a ginger-orange miniskirt with a basic orange pair of athletic shorts that went down to her knees. Her knee-high socks were navy blue, covering the rest of her legs. Her shoes were the same basic orange as her shorts on the bottom and the same powder blue on the top. In the center of each of her shoes was a carrot-colored square that seemed to glow. And she had a pair of bright orange, open-fingered gloves. What was strange about the gloves was that the index and middle fingers were not open-fingered.

"Oh, hey Chihiro! Fancy this, huh?" I was surprised. I didn't know who Chihiro, apparently that was her name, was. Did Yang meet her somewhere? "Oh, meet my sister, Ruby." Well, I guess it's my turn to meet her I guess, cause Yang just sent me her way with one sentence. "Oh, uh, hi Chihiro." I meekly greeted her. "Um, hello to you too Ruby." It seemed she was just as shy. "So, you know Yang? From school? Or was it something else?" I wanted to know why Chihiro apparently knew Yang, so I asked the obvious questions. "I never really went out of my was to socialize with people at school. I first met with her on the street. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a Huntress or not, and Yang sort of pushed me in the direction I needed. So, here I am." It looked like Chihiro was nervous. I couldn't blame her. It's the first time she's met me. Well, guess I should be friendly towards her. "Well, I'm glad she did. Otherwise, I would've never met you!" Chihiro seemed to smile vividly. "Thanks. You know, you're kind of cute. Like a button." And now she was flirting with me. I stammered a little. Then I looked towards Chihiro and it looked as if she was kicking herself on the inside. Might be something I'd need to talk about with her later. We turned back towards Yang. "Wow, I never thought you'd get along well with someone THAT fast. We haven't even landed yet. I guess you'll be starting off the year with a _Yang!_ " I groaned. I was used to Yang's puns by now. Didn't make them any less painful to listen to. I heard Chihiro chuckle a little. Guess she liked it. If only she knew how bad it was going to… I looked at Chihiro. She was looking down at Yang's feet. Then I looked where she was looking. Then I understood that Chihiro was NOT laughing at Yang's pun. "Oh, Yang, gross, you have puke on your shoe!" Yang's smile dropped as she looked down. Sure enough, there was, indeed, vomit on her shoe. "Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross…" "Get away get away! Get away from me!" "Sorry for laughing. I just found it funny that you seemed so calm with vomit on your shoe like it was no big deal. I guess you never noticed until now.

(Yang's POV)

I was going to have to talk with Chihiro after this. And then maybe I'd 'talk' with Vomit Boy.

(Chihiro's POV)

After the conversation ended, well, disturbingly, we arrived shortly after. On our way out, I saw the newly dubbed 'Vomit Boy' regurgitating into a trash can. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" Yang seemed like she was ready for anything. Then, Ruby… Oh dear… "Ooh! Ooh! Sis! That kid has a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!" I never took Ruby for a weapon nut. Then again, I guess I was sort of the same with the 'quality traits' of the other Huntsmen and Huntresses in training here… Stop it Chihiro! You're better than this! "Hey, Chihiro! What weapon do you have?" I turned towards Ruby once more. I flinched. She had a giant red and black, mechanical scythe in her arms. I decided to muster what little courage I had left to respond. "Well, it's one of my gloves. I had the other sewn to match it. Although, the hexagram isn't on the copy." I showed Ruby and Yang the hexagram on my right glove. "It's not the weapon I made in Signal. It's one that my father had made for me to help me when I decided to become a Huntress…" My voice trailed off a bit. How on earth did my father know I would be a Huntress. When I get settled in, I'm going to have to question him about it. "Uh, it's a trans-matter power glove with a plasmatic blaster and portal gun sewn in the seams. I call it Phasisstutter." I didn't know how Yang would react. Ruby was predictable. "Oh, cool! You have to show me that in action!" This was a first. Someone asking me to show off. "Uh, well…" Before I could give my approval, I heard a voice. One I never though I'd hear again. "I knew that meek, yet affirming voice belonged to someone I knew. Just needed to confirm my suspicions." I turned to the voice's origin. I couldn't believe it. It was my childhood friends from Vacuo, Stella and Leichter.

First was Stella. Her long, curvy, and beige hair flowing with the subtle wind. Her Mocha Brown wool sweater with white sleeves rolled up to her elbows was new. But I recognized the black and brown moccasins she cherished anywhere. Her clean grey socks and black tights I knew were hand-me-downs from her older sister. I saw Tawny wear those on a daily basis before she outgrew them. Her gloves were definitely unique. They were black, but her index and ring fingers were grey instead. Finally, her eyes were a glistening peanut brown with the cutest dimple under her left eye. And dead in the center of her sweater was the Capulet Star, the symbol of her family. It was a taffy-pink C with four magenta diamonds jutting out of the four 'corners'. Inside the center of the C was a butterscotch-yellow star.

Then there was Leichter. His amethyst hair was messy, and his eggplant-colored eyes looked tired. What happened to him when we left? He was usually more upbeat than this. I guess he went back to being lonely when we all left. His lemon collar had a dandelion button keeping it together. His plum dress-pants were smooth and silky, contrary to his head's appearance. His shoes were a bright honey-yellow. They looked a bit fancy. And his gloves were a deep iris-purple. His dress shirt was definitely an oddity. His right sleeve was a basic yellow and his left was orchid purple. At the end of each sleeve were cufflinks, appearing almost exactly like his collar. The base of his shirt was basic purple, but on the right side, starting from where his lungs would be, was a black strip, separate from the rest of the shirt. It even went past where the rest of the shirt ended and covered a part of his right hip. On said strip was the Xandercat Clock symbol his family cherished. The X shape was a basic yellow with the top points of the X having brown triangles on top of it. The center was a brown circle with umber clock inscriptures on it, not easy to see if you weren't looking for it. What was strange about it is that it seemingly changed with the time. Like if the time was 4:30, that's what the clock would show. I'm not sure how it works. Supposedly it's a Xandercat family secret. There were brown whiskers on the side of the 'clock', much like a cat. And the tail was on the bottom of said 'clock'.

Enough talking. I want to meet my friends. "I'll see you later Yang. Ruby. I want to catch up with my old friends!" I waved goodbye as I ran towards faces I thought I would never see for decades. "Leichter! Stella! It's so good to see you again!" I had to look up to them. Literally. They were just as tall as Yang. Sometimes I wished I didn't have that syndrome. I'll never be able to grow as tall as I hoped. "You too Chihi!" Stella patted my head. I blushed for a different reason. My father called me Chihi when I was little. He still does. Stella took a liking to the nickname and started using it on a regular basis. "Easy Stella, you're making Chihiro blush." Leichter was always a realist. And one to point out the obvious. "Oops. Sorry Chihi." "It's fine Stella." So, why are you here? At Beacon, I mean." I wanted to know why they were here, even if the answer was a bit obvious. "Well duh! We're here to be Huntsmen! Like you, I'd assume." Oh Stella. I know you too well. While yes, I believe you do want to be a Huntress for greater good, I know you'd enjoy fighting the creatures of Grimm. Or any ne'er-do-well. You always did have a knack for fighting. "Well, Leichter? Is it true?" I wanted to hear Leichter confirm it for myself. "Yeah. Guess if I have so much time to kill, might as well use it to help." This surprised me. Leichter, even when he was more upbeat, was always lazy. He'd never go out of his way to do something unless he had to. Well, unless it was hanging out with us. "Well, I'm glad you're here! We have so much we need to catch up on!" I wanted to know what my friends have been up to all this time. It's been 9 Years since we last saw each other and I wanted to know what changed. "Okay, we will Chihi! Isn't that right, Leichter?" Stella made a cocky look at Leichter saying that last part. "Eh, I guess I have time to catch up." Now where was Roderick?

(Weiss's POV)

I couldn't believe this. Some girl just stumbled into my suitcases and almost caused some serious damage. And now she looked completely clueless. Did she not know what Dust is? "What are you, brain dead? Dust! Fire, Water, Lightning, energy! Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?" I took one long look at her. She looked like she actually was brain dead! Unbelieva… "STOP! PUT IT AWAY!" I heard a voice call out from nowhere. Was that directed at me? Did that guy know who I am? Well that's just great! Now I have TWO clueless… "Uhhhhaaaahhh-Chooooo!" And just like that, we blew up. The resulting explosion blew the Dust right out of my hands. I took one hard glare at the girl who sneezed and nearly blew us all to bits. "Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" I was more than a bit peeved. I was furious. "Well, maybe you shouldn't be shaking one of the most volatile substances in all of Remnant right in front of someone's nose!" Oh great! It was the other voice that told me to put it away. I turned to face him.

In front of me was a young man. He looked a little familiar. Maybe I saw him earlier? Well, he had basic brown hair, straight, yet the left side had subtle curves up and outward from his head. His moss-green eyes looked a bit stern. He wore a basil green jacket and had left it open, revealing a gingerbread-brown T-shirt. The collar at the top of his jacket was a basic green. His Pants were formal-looking and mahogany. And his open fingered gloves and boots were pine green. The bottom of his boots was pitch black and had basic green straps. Speaking of straps, he had one around his torso. Said strap was attached to a holster which held a red, intricately shaped axe. And on the left side of his jacket was a symbol. It was two trapezoids with the bottom part bent. In between the top part of the two shapes was a teal diamond. And below it was a cyan circle. I swear I had seen it before. It was called something like, the Monument Gem? I don't know.

"What do you want?" I asked him. I hoped to get a good answer out of him for his sudden outburst. "I WANTED to stop a disaster from happening. But it seems I was too late. Or you didn't know what you were doing!" That was an insult. "Excuse me? Who do you think I am?" He HAD to not know who I am if he was going to talk like this. "Actually, now that I got a good look at you, I do! But right now, I don't care! You shook Dust in front of someone's nose! OF COURSE she was going to sneeze." I was sure he was bluffing about knowing who I was. He didn't call me out by name. "I'm really, really sorry!" I turned to face the causer of this catastrophe. "Ugh, you complete, dolt!" I heard the man's voice again. "Hey, she said she was sorry!" I quickly turned towards him. "You! Zip it!" I turned back to the girl. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" She DID look a few years younger than the others here. "Well…I…" It didn't seem like I was going to get a good answer out of her. "This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters! So watch where you're going!" "Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess." That ticked me off. Just what I needed. The dolt didn't know who I was at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the insubordinate behind me didn't know who I was either. "It's Heiress, actually." I heard someone else enter the conversation. Her color scheme looked almost completely black. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." At last, someone who knew who I was. "Finally, some recognition!" And the moment is gone. "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." "What- How dare- The nerve of-!" "Yep. I knew who you were, Weiss. I believe your sister works with my father." Now I knew who the insubordinate was. He was Corporal Zaffre Montague's son. Roderick Montague. I was about to say something, but then I looked back at the girl in black. I saw the dust in her hands. It was the same dust that was blown out of my hands. Literally. I grunted once, took it, and left. And thankfully, nobody followed me.

(Roderick's POV)

I'm glad someone put Weiss in her place. I knew what the SDC did. I hated the fact that the company exploited the Faunus. Anyhow, I saw someone pick up the girl who had apparently fallen on the floor somehow. "Hey… I'm Jaune." "Ruby." Hm. Some names. Maybe now I formally introduce myself. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Now I was intrigued. "Okay, that's not something you hear every day." They turned towards me. "I'm Roderick. Nice to meet you."

After some talking and walking, I got to know Jaune and Ruby a bit better. "All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune was desperately trying, and failing, to protect his pride. "Look, I'm sorry 'Vomit Boy' was the first thing that came to mind." I tried so hard to stifle my laughter. "Oh yeah, what if I called you 'Crater Face'?" I let out a small chuckle. "Hey, that explosion was an accident." "Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!" That's what broke me. It wasn't too terribly loud, but I'm sure anyone could've heard my laughter after THAT last remark. "Do they?" "They will. Well, I hope they will…" I couldn't help myself but speak what was on my mind. "No they won't." "Hey, my mom is the one who told me… never mind…" I heard Ruby laugh a little. And I was recovering from my little laughing fit. "So, I got this thing." Next thing I knew, Ruby took out a giant mechanical scythe. That snapped me out of it real fast. "Woah! Is that a scythe?" I could tell that Jaune was nervous by the shakiness of his voice. "Yep." That was the only was I could respond. "It's also a customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle." How interesting. "A wha-?" Of course. "It's also a gun." "Oh. That's cool!" NOW Jaune's starting to get it. "What's the caliber?" I asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. "Wouldn't you like to know." And Ruby was being impish. "Oh, nice axe! What can it do?" And she noticed it. Surprised it took her this long. "Well, here's a little demonstration!" I took out my axe. It was a Poleaxe specifically. It's entire color scheme was red and had a plethora of triangles and quadrilaterals embalmed on the flat side. The very bottom and top of the axe had small shards that left openings in the center and the center of the pole had a two-parted hilt that was connected. I turned the two sides of the hilt and the axe briefly ignited. "Woah! So cool!" Ruby looked in absolute awe. Jaune was less than ecstatic. "Woah! Careful!" I wasn't done yet. "Watch this!" I pulled hard on the hilt and the open part on the top of the axe shot a condensed ball of fiery energy. It blew up in the air. The radius was rather small, but I knew anyone hit by it wouldn't think the damage was as small as the blast. I saw Ruby's eyes. They were sparkling like the shiniest diamond. I grinned a little. "Yeah, this axe/musket's got the literal firepower I need!" Then I facepalmed because of my unintentional pun. I was never one for them. Ruby snickered. "So, what've you got?" Ruby turned towards Jaune. I did too, curious as to what he had. "Oh- uh, I got this sword." "Oooooooh!" Ruby looked a bit intrigued. I was a little disappointed buy decided not to look the way I felt. "Yeah, I've got a shield too!" That caught my eye. You don't see many of those these days. At least, not a hard-shield that couldn't do anything that wasn't protect. "So what do they do?" And Jaune had his shield slip out of his fingers. He struggled to get it back in his hands. Of course he did. "Well… the shield gets smaller… So… when I get tired of carrying it… I can just put it away." Practical, but there was one flaw. I was about to point it out, but Ruby beat me to it. "But wouldn't it weigh the same?" "Yeah, it does." Of course. "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard designing it." My eyes widened at that part. "I'm sorry, what?" "Wait, you made that?" Jaune and I had both responded at the same time, both of us amazed at what Ruby had been capable of. "Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons." That explained it, a little I suppose. An over-the-top weapon for an eccentric girl. Fitting I suppose. "Isn't that a requirement at Signal?" Asking the obvious. "Yep." Ruby doesn't beat around the bush, now does she? "Didn't you make yours?" Ruby asked to the both of us. "I did." I answered firmly. Jaune, on the other hand, looked a bit more sullen. I'm guessing he didn't. "It's a hand-me-down. My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the war." I was disappointed a bit at the first part. After the second part, Jaune had a little of my respect. Honoring your family, I hope I can be the Huntsman my father would want me to be. Ruby and I noticed Jaune looked a bit sore on the fact he didn't make his own weapon. "Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby said this, unintentionally cheering Jaune up a little. "My sentiments exactly." I only helped. "Well I like it." Ruby, of course, would like any weapon. "Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." I let out a small laugh. "You're one to talk!" I then noticed Jaune. He looked, how you say, unsettled. "Yeah. The classics." I could tell something was wrong. I decided not to pursue.

Then we got lost. Or more, Ruby and Jaune got lost. Seems they didn't know where to go. Of course. "Well, you WERE going the right way. I'll take you back there." Then Ruby and Jaune followed me. When we got to the amphitheater's doorway, I was soundly surprised. "Well aren't you guys sights for sore eyes?" Stella turned around to face me. "Roderick!" Chihiro and Leichter turned around shortly after. "What took you so long?" Leichter, of course, pointed this glaring fact out. It was true I was the last of the old friends to show up. "Yeah, you're usually the first one at these sorts of things." And of course Chihiro was still as short as ever. Only she, I, Stella, Leichter, and our families knew of Chihiro's condition. We never brought up that sore subject. "Well, I had to help some people out who got lost." Stella looked behind me. "Yeah, I see that." Chihiro also seemed to notice. And recognized someone. "Hey Ruby!" Huh, I guess Chihiro and Ruby already met. "Hey Chihiro!" Ruby greeted back. And Leichter, as usual, didn't care. "Well, let's go. We have an assembly to attend." Then the six of us walked into the amphitheater, waiting for what trials await us.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Welcome to the first official chapter of the story. Well, you know what the soon to be Team RSCL looks like now. And like I said, their presence in Remnant will change canon a bit, but not drastically. What will change, and what won't? You'll have to read this fic and find out. This is a long chapter, I wont lie. Longer than anything else I've written that's for sure. Also, even though Stella's sister, Tawny, and Roderick's father, Zaffre, have known names now, they won't appear until MUCH later in the fic. The next chapter will be a bit later than I'd like though. My schedule outside of this is a bit busy and I won't have much time to work on this for a few days. Expect Chapter 2 to come out at 8/15 at soonest and 8/18 at latest. Anyhow, the true story is finally starting, and it only escalates from here. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	6. Chapter II: A Few Light Heart-To-Hearts

(Yang's POV)

So here me and my friends from Signal are, waiting for the opening ceremony to start. I heard a few footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Ruby, Vomit Boy, and Chihiro with her friends. There was also someone else I never saw with them. Eh, whatever. "Ruby! Chihiro! Over here! I saved a few spots!" Ruby and the others with her said goodbye to Vomit Boy, at least that's what I think they did, and started coming over towards my way. When they arrived, they looked a bit chipper. "How's your first day going, little sister?" "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?" Okay, maybe Ruby wasn't as chipper as the others. "Yikes. Meltdown already?" "No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school… There was a fire and I think some ice." Yeah, that seemed a bit off to be a solid story. "…Are you being sarcastic?" "Actually, I can vouch for her. I did witness the events first-hand." This was the new guy who showed up with Ruby, Chihiro, and her friends. I think their names were Stella and Leichter, as Chihiro called them. Anyway, the new guy seemed pretty stern, but was friendly toward Chihiro and her friends. I guess he must be another friend of theirs. "Thank you, Roderick!" So Roderick's his name, huh? Well, the more people who saw it, the more believable it gets I guess. Ruby kept going… "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage! And then she yelled at me! And then I sneezed…" All-the-while Ruby was telling me what 'happened' I noticed someone behind her. She was giving her a cold stare from behind. Ruby hasn't noticed her yet. "And then I exploded! And then she yelled again…" It looked like Chihiro and her friends noticed the girl though. It was painfully obvious that the four of them were trying very hard to stifle their laughter. To be fail, I was too. Except, I was better at not showing it. Mostly because I was genuinely concerned for Ruby. "And I felt really, really bad! And I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" "You!" Ruby immediately jumped into my arms. That was startling. "Oh God, it's happening again!" Again? What did she mean by… it's starting to all come together now. "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Wow. I guess all that stuff really did happen. "Oh my God, you really exploded." "It was an accident!" "I mean, I did say that she did. Maybe take someone else's word for it next time?" Roderick was no longer struggling not to chuckle. I don't know if it was advice or sarcasm based on me not knowing who he is very well. I'll just assume it's both for now. The girl seemed to notice him though. "Ugh, you too?! We'll talk later!" Seems Roderick had some trouble with the girl too. I'll have to ask him about it if I get the chance. "As for you!" The 'crabby girl' turned promptly to face Ruby again and shoved a pamphlet of paper in her face. _"Dust for Dummies,"_ huh? Oh god, Ruby didn't learn about Dust yet since she got into Beacon 2 years earlier than the others here. That would explain it. "What's this?" Guess Ruby is still confused on the subject. "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product." Okay, this 'Schnee' girl is just going on and on and on about something about Dust. It's starting to get annoying real fast. Heck, even Chihiro, Roderick, and the other two are giving her jumbled looks. Oh god, it's still going. "Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust application and practice in the field." Okay, now I just look over at Chihiro's group and noticed their expressions. Chihiro's eyes dramatically widened, Stella's eyebrows were very raised, Roderick's jaw hap dropped a mile, and Leichter looked bored… Wait, what is he doing? Is he, walking up to her? "You really want to start making things up to me?" Seems as if the 'Schnee' girl is really persistent about the whole debacle I wasn't able to witness for myself. "Absolutely?" Ruby's poor head was probably still dazed after the long-winded speech the "Schnee' girl gave. Leichter was still approaching her. Now I looked at the rest of his friends and they were motioning him to stay out of it. Too bad he didn't look their way. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again." Leichter just approached the girl and cleared his throat to speak. "Listen, 'Schnee' was it? Whatever. As much as I admire your professionalism, aren't you being a bit too harsh?" Man, his voice sounded tired. And dreary. "Oh great. Who are you? I saw you with Montague. I don't recognize you from Atlas though." Atlas, huh? Being fair, most of the time, atlas was known for being a bit stuck-up. I guess it makes sense now. Oh dear, it looks like Leichter's going to… Actually, what is he going to do?

(Leichter's POV)

She met Roderick, huh? I hope they didn't get off on the wrong foot. Maybe they did. Who am I to know? Anyway, I feel like this 'Schnee' girl needs release some tension in the near future. "Hey, why don't you put all this business where it should be right now, the past. Maybe, get to know each other better before jumping to conclusions?" I hope this works. "I guess we could try that." The girl in red seemed to like the idea. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby!" Hm, some names. Now we're getting somewhere. "Want to hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!" Good start, good start. "Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" Weiss pointed to Jaune. Chihiro told us of his… incident. Roderick told us about his personality and his weapons a little. He turned his head toward Weiss in confusion. I saw a look on his face that said; "Is she talking about me?" Anyway, doesn't look like Weiss is ready to let bygones be bygones yet. "Ow wow, really?" It also doesn't look like Ruby is able to pick up on sarcasm. Weiss was not amused. "NO." Alright, guess I should be a little bit more involved in this. "Hey Weiss, maybe later, meet me on the balcony? I'd like to speak a few words with you, if I can." "Hm, fine. At least you look and talk a bit more refined. Your tone needs work, though." At least we're getting somewhere.

We heard mic feedback a little while later and heard a man clear his throat. This was Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. "I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school ill prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin left the microphone. Taking his place was world-renowned Huntress; Glynda Goodwitch. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!" Ballroom, huh? That makes meeting with Weiss a bit easier. Doesn't change the fact that Ozpin's speech was a bit… underwhelming. Though, he's not wrong. "I'm a natural blonde you know." Jaune just came up to Weiss just to spout that random fact. Well, my train of thought got stopped. Probably for the best though. Don't want to overwork my cranium before we even start yet. I reunited with my friends from Vacuo shortly. They seemed a bit shocked that I stood up to her, then asked her to meet me somewhere. I ignored their looks and went to the ballroom. The others promptly followed, of course. Once we got there, we found ourselves split again. But we didn't mind it as much. We all knew we were close in proximity.

(Stella's POV)

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang seemed in high spirits. "I couldn't agree more!" So was I. "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby, not so much. "I know I do." Yang purred. Man, if Chihiro was here to hear Yang now, things would've been so much better. She had to use the restroom, so she wasn't. The four of us knew of Chihiro's perverted head. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed that nobody questions her about it since it can be blatantly obvious sometimes. Okay, that would be a mood-killer though. Jaune 'Vomit Boy' Arc came in in bunny footie pajamas. Yang noticed too and was immediately snapped back to reality. I could hear her groan of being disturbed. "What's that?" Yang asked Ruby. I didn't even notice, but Ruby was writing on something. "A letter to the gang back at Signal." Isn't that the school Chihiro went to? I assume Yang went there as well since she and Ruby are sis- Hang on a sec. How are they sisters if A.) They look nothing alike, and B.) They have different last names? I'll have to find out later. Hopefully the story isn't too dark. "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." Ruby seemed a bit downcast. Maybe it was because of whatever she and Weiss went through on the first few hours in the front of Beacon. Oh yeah, Leichter told us Weiss's name before we divided. "Aww, that's so cuuuuuute!" Yang mewed. She was promptly met with a pillow to the face. "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here." I get where she's coming from. Rody, Chihi, and I all had to move away from Vacuo for work related reasons and we knew nobody where we were. Though, Chihi seems close with Yang, Rody was a little close with Ruby if I saw them correctly. He also told us about a few of the non-bigots at Atlas. There were very few. There was Brick Valter, Flynt Coal, Neon Katt, Eduard Killarney, Melody Mars, and Infra Nett. He didn't talk with them much, but they were the only ones who saw him off when he left Atlas, so I guess they left on good terms. I had no one. Except maybe Kidd, but I only met him for a minute or so. "Well there's Jaune. He's… nice. There's Chihiro and Roderick too! And I'm sure Stella and Leichter will get along with you. See, you've already got a few friends here!" Yang's not wrong about me. Leichter, on the other hand, is pretty hard to socialize with. "I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a 'negative friend'." Never mind. Ruby seems like a pessimist, like Leichter. I'm sure they'll get along well. If not, at least they can enjoy each other's company due to silence if that's the case. "There's no such thing as 'negative friends'! You just made 3 friends, 2 acquaintances, and an enemy!" And there goes the other pillow Ruby had. "Yang, that didn't help at all…" I had to be a bit of a realist here. I hate seeing people when their down. And no, Leichter doesn't count. He's always so sullen. Which reminds me, I have to ask him why he just up and went to talk with Weiss all of a sudden. That wasn't normal. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."

We laid in silence for a minute. Then we heard the sound of a fire lighting. At first, I thought it was Roderick fiddling around with Rubicante. Then I remembered that he's not one to fiddle around with his weapon. Unlike Leichter. He's always tinkering with his knife, Safer, even when he was a little kid. He always wanted to be a Huntsman and it seems some things didn't change. I still wonder how and why he got so pessimistic in the first place. I'm genuinely concerned. Anyhow, we all turned to see the source of the sound and saw a girl dressed in black with a bow on her head. Why isn't she taking it off? It's the middle of the night. Is there something special about it? While I was busy in my thoughts, Yang pulled Ruby toward her and greeted her in a sing-song way. I got up and walked towards them. "I believe you two may know each other!" I took one look at the black-clad girl's eyes and saw total disinterest. This should be fun. "Aren't you that girl who exploded?" Straight to the point. Rody would like that. "Uhh, yeah! My name's Ruby." She went in to shake her hand. The girl didn't reciprocate the gesture. "But, you can just call me… crater… actually you can just call me Ruby." Crater? I'm not going to ask. "Okay." The girl still seemed uninterested in this current conversation. I heard Yang and Ruby whisper a few things. I guess I should step in this time. "My name is Stella. And what is your name?" I took a chance to turn this around. Maybe get a better reaction out of her. "Blake." Swing and a miss. At least we got her name. "Well, Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister! …I like your bow!" That came out of nowhere. Did Yang want to ask the same question? "Thanks." That sounded much more positive. We're actually making progress! "It goes great with your… pajamas!" Oh dear. "Right…" And, we're back to square one. Thanks a lot Yang. I might have to knock some common courtesy into you later. No, not yet. I don't want to cause any trouble with my trigger-finger with my weapon Starktronic yet. "Nice night, don't you think?" "Yes. It's lovely." Never mind. Maybe Yang does know her way around a conversation. "Almost as lovely as this book…" Oh, a book person. Also like Rody. "… that I will continue to read…" A really dedicated book person. "…as soon as you leave." A persistent book person. "Yeah, this girl's a lost cause." I take it back. Looks like I will have to knock some sense into her after all. I wonder when the soonest possible time I can do that without getting in trouble? "What's it about?" You know it's sad when your YOUNGER sibling has more manners than you. "Huh?" "Your book. Does it have a name?" "Yeah, I'm curious too." Both Ruby and I want to know more about the book. Yang, not so much. "Well… it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body." That sounds familiar… I think I saw Chihiro's mother read a book like that. The book didn't have a title. Wait, wasn't Chihiro's mother a romantic? Then if that's the same book… I paled a little. I found the exact same book in a Library in Mistral. It's… not for someone as young as Ruby. Good call keeping it vague Blake. In my daze, I missed a bit of the conversation, but listened back in after a while. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves." Just at the right time, too. Ruby's little speech reminded me of the reason I decided to come here. To help people who needed it most. People like Kidd. I wonder how he's been doing. "That's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." It seems like the weight of the world has gotten to Blake a little. I wonder if Leichter feels the same way. "Well, that's why we're here. To make it better." Spoken like a true Huntress Ruby. I smiled a little. "Ohhhh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang glomped Ruby. Then picked her up. "Cut it out!" Ruby seemed annoyed. Next thing I know, I see a giant dust could around them. I decided to sit down here. I didn't know where to sleep actually. I thought sleeping with Ruby and Yang would be a good idea. Nope. Maybe some quiet is what I need. I figured Blake would be a bit quieter. "What in the world is going on over here!?" Weiss came over here. I looked her way. It seemed Roderick was peeved at how much noise Yang and Ruby were making. Chihiro looked as if she was looking for something or someone. Probably Yang. And Leichter was looking towards us, with a face that said; 'What in the world is happening?' And true to his word, he was out on the balcony waiting for Weiss. I'm guessing she was on her way there until the two sisters caused a ruckus. "Don't you realize that some of the people here are trying to sleep!?" She turned subtly, just enough to see Ruby and Yang. "Oh, not you again!" Weiss and Yang looked ready to go at it. I'd jump in to try to get them to knock it off, but Ruby beat me to it. "Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" I buried my head in my pillow. Make this arguing stop. I heard Blade blow out her candelabra. I heard footsteps a while later. They faded out. I guess they all left. I poked my head out and saw Blake, bookless, and ready to hit the hay. I think I'll strike up a quick conversation.

"So, why don't you take the bow off? Won't you feel uncomfortable while you sleep with it on?" I wanted to know a bit more. "…I'd rather not talk about it." Blake seemed a bit disturbed. "I'll respect that." I didn't want to peer more in a sensitive subject. "Thanks." You're welcome. "So, why do you want to be a Huntress?" Everyone has their reasons. What's hers? "I just want to make things right." Between what? "What do you mean?" I was curious. "You wouldn't understand." I think I knew why she'd say that. "Is it about the Faunus?" I heard a small gasp. "I guess that's a yes. In that case, I do understand." Starting to put two and two together. "How?" Her curiosity seems to be quite high. "Well, before I got here, I helped a Faunus kid who was being bullied by someone twice his size and triple his age. I guess I don't like the idea of them being bullied just because they look different than us." I hopes I was getting somewhere with this. "Yeah, I feel the same way." I think I'm starting to know why Blake has that bow on. Just need one more prompt to confirm it. "I think the White Fang is right in wanting equality for Faunus. They're just going about it the wrong way." C'mon, Blake. Give me the answer I need. "Yeah… I agree…" Bingo. She seemed a bit sore on the subject of the Fang. "So, what type of Faunus are you?" Blake's eyes widened. "How did you-" I cut her off. "I could tell by the way you reacted to my story. They are true." I was being honest. "Wow. I guess I never saw you as the observant type." I really don't look like it. I can see why she said that. "Meh, not the first time I heard that. So, what are you?" I just wanted to know. "I have cat ears…" Blake was insistent on being quiet when she said that. "Oh, neat! Just so you know, I don't mind." I really don't mind. In fact, I'm quite fond of Faunus. "Thanks… I guess?" Now to reassure her. I don't want her to be uncomfortable. "I won't tell anyone. I'm a good secret keeper. Don't tell Ruby, but I know what you're reading." Blake blushed a little. "Oh. Thanks." "It's up to you when you decide to tell anyone else. Okay Blake?" "Yeah. Thanks Stella."

(Leichter's POV)

"Let's make this quick. I want to go to sleep." Weiss seems a little cranky. I wonder if it's because of the kerfuffle that went on indoors. "I just wanted to talk a bit. You know, ease away some of the stress. Believe me, that scar is going to be the least of your problems if you don't learn to relax every once in a while. Now please take a seat." Weiss reluctantly sat on the marble floor of the balcony with me. This is just going to be a small heart-to-heart, so she can get her mind off the bad things that happened to her today. "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" I gazed upon the Remnant stars I had so enjoyed seeing every night. I always preferred sleeping outside for that very reason. "I suppose so." Weiss still seemed a bit uptight. "If this is the only reason you-" Weiss seemed peeved. I knew she'd say if my reason was the only reason for bringing her here, she was leaving. I stopped her before she could. "Yes, it is. The fact is that if you don't ease up, you aren't going to get a good night's sleep. And then, how do you expect to preform your best during initiation?" Weiss's eyes widened. "I guess I never thought of that. But-" I shook my head. "Easy, Weiss." Weiss sighed. "So, how's Roderick been in Atlas? I assume you two knew each other since you mentioned his name." Weiss shook her head no. "I didn't know him personally. My sister is an Altesian Specialist. She worked with Corporal Montague. I'm guessing Roderick is the Corporal's son." I nodded in agreement. "He is. I'm a bit surprised you know them." Weiss looked a tad bit appalled. "Of course I knew of Corporal Montague. He takes orders directly from General Ironwood, same as my sister. She seems to talk with him a bit. I overheard a conversation they had earlier. Some things about Roderick being his 'pride and joy'." I chuckled a little. We all knew Roderick's father was very proud of what Roderick accomplished. And old Zaffre was never afraid to show it, much to Roderick's chagrin. "Did this help you calm down a little, Weiss?" She nodded. "I suppose. Thanks… I actually never got your name." I smiled a little. "Leichter." She nodded again. "Got it. Good night, Leichter." I waved good-bye. "Good night, Weiss." She got up and left in better spirits. I curled into my sleeping bag and gazed at the night sky as I drifted off to sleep…

 **Author's Notes**

 **Before you ask, I will not say anything about shipping Team RSCL with Team RWBY. It is up to your interpretation until I make it canon to this story. Although Flynt Coal and Neon Katt are official RWBY characters, their teammates from FNKI have not been revealed. I took a few creative liberties with the friends Roderick left in Atlas, including the few OC's I made for FNKI, being Eduard Killarney and Infra Nett. Just because he left due to his other friends' bigotry doesn't mean he left more respectable friends behind. I forgot to mention this last chapter, but I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters. I only own Team RSCL, Kidd Clementine (from Prologue S), Brick Valter (Name given only), Eduard Killarney (Name given only), Melody Mars (Name given only), and Infra Nett (Name given only). Also, try and see if you can find out Eduard's and Infra's name inspiration. Roderick and Chihiro will talk with Ruby and Yang respectively, just as Stella did with Blake and Leichter did with Weiss. I just decided that this chapter wasn't the time. Those heart-to-hearts will come later in the story. Anyhow, until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	7. Chapter III: First Things First

(Roderick's POV)

"Wake up lazy bud!" I begrudgingly woke up to the sound of a girl waking someone up. Apparently, I was far from alone. There were five other people around us who were woken up by one of, if not the most hyperactive girl imaginable. Not even Stella was THIS gung-ho about waking up. And, if memory serves me correct, she was ALWAYS looking for someone to scuffle with. I could see the pain in the boy's eyes as the girl sang 'It's morning" over and over again. This day's starting off great, isn't it? "I can't…

(Leichter's POV)

…believe we've been at Beacon for a full 24 hours!" Dear lord, what is with that girl? All I wanted to do was wash my face before getting ready for initiation. Then these two showed up and the girl kept talking. "Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean you're the perfect student and I'm well, I'm me!" And she wouldn't stop talking. I took one turn toward the true victim of her ceaseless dialogue and he looked miserable. How on Remnant is he able to withstand such a long-winded speech that goes seemingly nowhere. "But it's just crazy, you know…?" Of course it doesn't end. Why would it. I spent the rest of my time in the washroom with my ears covered.

(Stella's POV)

"…We've been friends for soooooo long. What are the odds we'd still be together?" Okay, I know I'm the wildest of my friends. And that there are people out there I want to fight with. But THIS girl, she quite frankly scares me. She's a giant bundle of energy that doesn't seem like it will ever stop. HOW the poor boy with her can put up with her for the unforeseeable amount of time he actually has is stunning. I actually dread finding out the girl's Semblance. "Well, not 'together' together. Not that I'm not saying you're not handsome." Okay, WHAT? She just used a triple negative. Which means she just said, 'I'm saying you're not handsome'. Or did she say, 'I'm not saying you're not handsome'? "You are handsome, but that's just be weird… Right?" AAGH! This girl actually confuses me!

(Chihiro's POV)

"Right. So what was I thinking?" I don't think I want to know what she's thinking right now. I'm sitting across from a girl with pancakes shoved in her mouth and she still somehow manages to make coherent sentences. That's pretty admirable in it's own way. But, how? Her mouth is covered. It actually looks cute with her bubbly cyan eyes, and her… NO! Not NOW of all times! Get! Your head! Together Chihiro! Initiation is just around the corner. Focus! "But still, I hope we end up on a same team together." I saw her slurp down an entire pancake in less than a second. I'm completely baffled. Thankfully, she, nor the one she's talking to noticed me staring. "Ooh! We should come up with some sort of plan! To make sure we end up on the same team together!" I don't like the sound of that. "What if we bribe the Headmaster? No, that won't work, he has the school." I'm… at a complete loss for words.

(Roderick's POV)

There's Rubicante. In the locker I left it in last night. "I know!" Oh no… I recognized the voice and turned around. Sure enough, it was the same two people I woke up to in the ballroom. And it seemed she was STILL hyperactive. "We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal!" Will someone…

(Leichter's POV)

I thought I had got away. Just maybe, I could get Safer, my beloved hand-knife with a citrine edge, amber handle and Dust revolver built into it, from my locker before they got here. Nope. Just as I turned to leave, I saw those two again. With the girl continuing her endless rant. "A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest!" Shut…

(Stella's POV)

Here I am in the locker room. I had just arrived to get Starktronic, my pillar with rotating wheels on the outside and a built-in rocket launcher, from the locker I put it in. And, lo and behold, the girl from this morning was still bright, energetic, and still talking. Why me? "Can you imitate a sloth?" This girl…

(Chihiro's POV)

I collected Phasisstutter from the locker I left it in. Then I put in my sleeping gloves in them. I was really uncomfortable sleeping without my hands being covered. I didn't want anyone to know about them. Not even my best friends. To be fair, I've never had a sleepover before. Not even when we were younger in Vacuo. Last night, I looked around everywhere to make sure nobody saw them as I went to bed. Anyhow, after I got my trans-matter glove and the copy from the locker, I saw the hyper girl still talking about her ingenious plan. I looked around and saw my friends. They looked just as miserable as the boy subject to all the talking. Oh dear. I forgot that Roderick has a foul temper, Leichter hates mornings without coffee and he hasn't had any time to make it since we got here, and Stella hates getting confused. It didn't take me very long to figure out what they were thinking.

(Roderick, Stella, and Leichter's POV)

UP!

(Chihiro's POV)

"Nora…" "Yes, Ren?" Nora and Ren. I'll have to remember them. Mostly to talk to them about my friend's morning issues after initiation is over. "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." He's right. Sloths don't make much noise at all. Although, the baby ones make the most adorable sound ever. I should tell them that. "…That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together." Never mind. I think that'd make things worse. I saw my three friends. They fell over on their heads absurdly quickly. I think there was a term for that somewhere, but it's name eludes me. "Come on, Nora. Let's go" "but not 'together' together." Oh no… Thinking about those two actually being 'together' together makes me feel… NO! STOP IT! Bad Chihiro! You're better than this! Come on. You got this. Deep breaths. In. Out. Good. Now. To initiation.

(Stella's POV)

I dusted my self off after my anime-fall. The world didn't get much anime in Remnant, apart from the cultural-heavy parts of Mistral. That's where I grew up actually. I was never a big fan of the finer arts, but the animated television shows struck a chord with me. I kind of liked them. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" I turned behind me again. There was Weiss, berating Jaune for who knows what he did. Actually, no. Judging from things, he tried buttering up the amazon-like girl next to Weiss… Wait, that's Pyrrha! I didn't know her very much personally. She went to Sanctum and I went to Altar. The two schools were literally on the opposite ends of Mistral. I did know she was pretty popular though. "Not in the slightest, Snow Angel." I facepalmed. Jaune, please tell me you're more than a lost cause. I think you have potential, you just need to show it. "This is Pyrrha." "Hello again!" I knew Pyrrha was always polite. I never got the chance to spar with her when our two schools actually met for a joint field trip to Haven. Well, maybe I'll get that chance. "Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." If Jaune was as ignorant as he made himself out to be, he wouldn't catch on to that. And what do you know… "Never heard of it." Must be a hometown Vale guy. Also must not know about the four kingdoms all that well. "Ah! She's won the Mistral Region Tournament 4 years in a row… A new record!" That was a bit of a sore spot for me. Every time I entered, I was one round away from moving on to the final round. My Semblance may let me be immune to knockback, but my stamina still gets affected. And it's actually pretty expendable if I take too many hits. Each time, I missed my shot at Pyrrha because my opponent was able to exploit my weakness by striking me numerous times in quick succession. One day, I'll get strong enough to withstand more pressure. It's why I have Starktronic. When it's wheels spin, it hurts anyone who touches its surface. I hold on to it like that to further increase my stamina. And if worse comes to worse, I use it like a bo staff and rocket launcher instead of using its main function. "The what?" Oh dear. He must really be unknowledgeable if he doesn't know about the biggest event in all of Mistral. What else could Pyrrha be renowned for… Oh no, Weiss, please don't go there. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" She went there. "That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters." And, of course, THAT'S how Jaune recognizes her. I take it back. Jaune is a lost cause. Anyway, might as well enter the conversation. I do need to get my mind off of this morning. "Yeah, it was pretty cool." Pyrrha was modest about it too. I did hear she never was the one to boast. "Isn't that cereal horrible for your health though?" I asked, entering the conversation. "Yes, sadly." Pyrrha seemed to not like the cereal. I get it. She does need to be in top form for whatever comes her way I suppose.

"So after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Oh Weiss. Still as pompous as ever. "I guess not… Sorry." Well NOW I feel bad for Jaune. Pyrrha walked up to him. "Actually Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader." That has yet to be determined. I haven't seen him in combat, so I can't say for sure. "D'oh, stop it!" Pyrrha, what on earth are you saying? I know you're supposed to be polite and all, but there are times you have to be honest. "Jaune, why did you do that? And can you not do that again, please?" What Jaune did there in response to Pyrrha's compliment disturbed me. "Yes please." Weiss seemed to agree with me. "This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" Jaune ignored this and went towards me. "Well, who are you, my fair maiden?" That's even more disturbing. "Stella." I saw Pyrrha's eyes look curious at me. As if she knew me from somewhere. I couldn't focus on that because Jaune was trying to butter ME up now. "Well Stella, Weiss, sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick. Now I'm not supposed to do this, but, maybe I could pull a few strings for you two. Find a place for the two of you. What do you say?" Oh what the hell? The way he's talking is totally creeping me out. I've already dealt with one pervert, Chihiro. But SHE knew when to control herself. JAUNE on the other hand… Ugh… "Alright, that's a bit too close!" Weiss seemed just as uncomfortable as I was. "Hey! I have an idea. Maybe I'll join you if you can best me! What do you say?" I activated Starktronic. It's actually a pendant when it's not in weapon form. That's how I get it from place to place. Unfortunately, Ruby happened. "Oh! That looks so cool! What is it? What does it do? How does it work? How do you use it? Can I hold it? Please? Please?" Next thing I know, I had been glomped on by Ruby and she started asking me so many questions. It happened so fast, Ruby actually moved me a few feet away from Weiss and, thankfully, Jaune. Speaking of which, as Ruby was asking me her 20 Questions, Weiss asked Pyrrha to help, in which, she skewered Jaune's shirt and pinned him to a wall. But I had to time to thank Pyrrha as I was bombarded by Ruby. I decided to answer her questions. "Well, it's a…" "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" Saved by the bell. "I'll tell you later. Don't want to be late." I went on my way to Beacon Cliff. I heard Pyrrha take the spear out of Jaune's hood. Ruby stayed behind to help him up.

(Roderick's POV)

Beacon Cliff. Site of initiation for Beacon. There were a few people here, about 24 or so, who were awaiting Ozpin's instructions on how to proceed. Among them were Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Weiss, Chihiro, Blake, Stella, Leichter, Pyrrha, me, and twelve others I didn't know. Finally, after an extended period of silence, Ozpin began. "For years, you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Glynda spoke up next to Ozpin. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today." I heard a few concerned and scared noises from the small crowd. I'm could've sworn I hear ruby among them. Ozpin dismissed them and began again. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." A few more noises from the crowd. I, however, was a bit more skeptical. There had to be a catch. It couldn't be so simple as to pick and choose who you'd want to associate with. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years." I knew it couldn't be THAT easy. This is a professional school for Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. There were many more responses of paranoia among us. I think I heard Chihiro say 'meep' in there. I saw Leichter yawn of boredom. Seems he didn't care. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." We all knew what he was referencing to. The Creatures of Grimm. I heard Jaune whimper a little. That was a bit unprofessional. I knew Chihiro was scared, but at least SHE could hide it. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene." So we're entering No Man's Land essentially. I wonder how dense the concentration of Grimm is here? "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." So that's how it works. Although, I wondered how the teams would be formed. It was safe to say that your partner would be among your teammates, but how would you be placed with the other two. "Are there any questions?" I was about to raise my hand but decided against it. I was curious, but I wanted out find out for myself. Jaune had a question though "Yeah, um, sir-" "Good! Now, take your positions." It seems Jaune wasn't going to get his question answered.

It didn't take long for everyone, except Jaune, to get ready for deployment. One by one, the panels we were standing on launched us into the Emerald Forest. Blake was the first one in. Then it was a man clad in dark grey. Two more went in. Then Leichter was the next one thrown into the fray, Safer in hand. Then a tan-colored armored man went in. Three more joined shortly after. Then it was Weiss's turn, and she flew in professionally. Pyrrha was up next. I knew her from the Mistral Region Tournament. There was barely any time for leisure in Atlas, and when that was on, it was one of the only times I got. Pyrrha went up in the sky after my thought had finished. "So, this landing strategy thing, uh, w-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" Jaune asked as three others flew off. One of them being Stella. Which was surprising, since her Semblance made it impossible to launch her anywhere. Did she figure out how to turn it off? I'll ask her later. "No. You will be falling." Ozpin gave Jaune his answer as a man with a light-green mohawk braced himself for the air. I was the last one to go, so I had to listen through all of Jaune's insecurities. "Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked, as Chihiro and someone else were catapulted into the forest. He's still oblivious to what's going to happen, despite what IS going to happen is happening right next to him. Nora went off into the wild blue yonder next, still as eccentric as when I woke up to her chatter. "No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin told Jaune. Ren had been launched as Ozpin finished. "Uhhuh… Yeah." Jaune still doesn't get it. A man in silver-gray and gold armor went off, ready for battle. Yang was next and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from her pocket, winked at Ruby, and went off. Ruby was not far behind. "So, um, what exactly is a landing strate-" Jaune was FINALLY cut off as he went flying and flailing into our destination. I chuckled at his misfortune a little. "Well played, sir." I told Ozpin. "Thank you." Lastly, I was next. I heard the floor under me tick. And then I took off.

 **Author's Notes**

 **It has just come to my attention that I forgot to put a date for this chapter in the last one. My bad. I will try not to make that mistake again. Chapter IV should be up within 8/22 and 8/25. I'm giving myself a margin of time as my schedule will probably not allow me to complete it in one sitting. Also, I had to address with someone else, who will remain anonymous, but I will not disclose any information about this story. Whether it be future ships, alterations of fate, or otherwise. And another thing, I don't hate Nora or Jaune. Nora's eccentricity made RSCL's first morning in Beacon irritating, which I found to be funny. Well, except Chihiro. Unlike her future teammates, she IS a morning person. And no, it's not a spoiler since we already know who RSCL is. It's not exactly hard to figure out. Jaune, on the other hand, I didn't have a fondness for at first. In the beginning of RWBY, I found Jaune's incompetence to be a little annoying more than sympathetic. There are good ways to make a zero-to-hero story, but Jaune was, in my opinion, not one of them. Once the events of Volumes 3 and 4 happened, I found Jaune to actually be a good character as he finally grew to be the Knight we all know and love. One last thing, and I am obligated to say this every chapter. I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters. I only own Team RSCL. I will only list characters I own in chapters they are mentioned in or appear in. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	8. Chapter IV: Into the Forest

(Leichter's POV)

So this is how things are going to start, huh? Well that's fine. Honestly, I just wanted something exciting to do. I got something better: I met my friends from Vacuo way back when we were kids. And now, I'm in Beacon Academy being initiated in probably the most drastic way imaginable. Thankfully, I had anticipated being ejected into Emerald Forest. Why? When you are told to meet at Beacon Cliff for initiation at a school designed for young men and women to become Huntsmen and Huntresses and stop the creatures of Grimm, what else do you think would happen. Obviously, this is a test to see if we are capable of facing against the Grimm at all. I noticed Blake and Weiss behind me. Blake had used some sort of grappling hook and used the momentum to slow herself down before she landed safely in the forest. Weiss used a few glowing circles with strange patterns as platforms and jumped from circle to circle until she landed in the woods. Me, I was going to use my Semblance. I took out some scrap parts I had gathered from my luggage and used my 'Quick-Fix' Semblance to construct something with very little effort. Thanks for the name, Stella. I turned my little contraption on and a propeller activated, giving me the aerodynamic energy I needed to stay afloat in the air. All was going well. Until a red and gold spear go straight through my device. At the very least, I wasn't in terminal velocity distance from the ground below, but I knew it was going to hurt. I let out a small shout in panic as I fell into one of the many trees' many branches. "Thank you!" I heard Jaune from a distance. "Yeah, Thank you!" I said sarcastically. "I'm sorry!" I heard Pyrrha call out to us. I'm going to take a guess and say that Pyrrha saw Jaune flailing in the air and she used her spear to pin Jaune to a tree to get him safe. And she probably didn't see ME until it was too late. I'd chastise her for it, but I, as always, felt too lazy to do it. "Ugh, that's going to be sore in the morning." I knew I'd get hurt on my new career path as a Huntsman. Doesn't make it any less intolerable though. "Now, the first person I make eye contact with is my partner for 4 years. Let's see how fate deals my hand." I then started trekking through the forest, looking for the individual going to be my partner for 4 solid years.

(Stella's POV)

As I was free-flying/free-falling, I realized something. I didn't tell the others that I could turn off my Semblance. Oops. Guess I have many explaining to do. Especially since my Semblance was being immovable. The 'Iron-Will' as I called it. Anyhow, I saw Ruby in the distance unceremoniously killing a bird with her own momentum. Then I saw Nora use a grenade launcher to reduce the momentum of her decent. Thankfully, she didn't cause much damage to the forest. As for me, I used my weapon, Starktronic, to create a whirlwind below me. While my Semblance if off, so is my Aura. I didn't want to take any risks with my descent, even though I love taking risks. Using the whirlwind, I softly landed on the grassy terrain and into the forest. At least, that's what WOULD'VE happened if Nora wasn't behind me and shot her grenade launcher while she was above me. I saw the grenade come straight towards me. In a panic, I activated my Semblance JUST before the grenade hit me. Good news, my Aura had activated in time and took most of the damage. Bad news, I was going to fall, and I couldn't do anything to stop my momentum down. I can't just turn my Semblance on and off at will. I have to wait a certain interval of time before I can activate or reactivate it. I crashed right into a branch, and completely stopped dead in my tracks. Guess the branch's shape made physics see me as being knocked back so it stopped me. Thankfully, the worst was over as I wasn't that far off the ground. Unfortunately, all of the momentum that was going towards me falling hit me when I collided with the branch. Needless to say, my Aura had depleted right then and there. Thanks a lot Nora. "Ugh, great. NOW, I have to be careful about which battles I pick with." I hung from the branch and began to slowly slide down the tree using Starktronic as a scaling wheel. Once I reached solid ground I did what anyone else would do in my exact situation. Scramble and run, hoping to find the nearest classmate to be my partner and protect me until my Aura recharges. Usually takes about 2 Hours or so, so hopefully no Grimm attack me while I'm in this weakened state. *ROAR* Spoke too soon. I turned and saw an Ursa Major behind me. Without my Aura, there is NO WAY I was going to be able to take that thing on. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

(Roderick's POV)

After seeing Jaune hilariously be ejected and flail like a fish out of water, I began my aerial travel into Emerald Forest. I knew perfectly what I was going to do. Rubicante, as great as it is, is too heavy to spin around like a helicopter unless a proper force is applied to myself as well to make ME spin as fast as a proper propeller. My semblance, the Stella-dubbed 'Heat-Haze" would be not help either. What it does is be able to increase the temperature around me. The hotter I make it and the larger the radius, the more energy I use when doing it. If possible, I could make it so hot as to neutralize the enemies' ability to attack at all. While it IS great, it's not going to help me in a freefall. And if I fire Rubicante to lower my momentum, I would start a forest fire. I don't want to be held responsible for the mass destruction of Beacon property. Seeing no other option, I held my axe out and put my feet on the bar. With proper balance, the axe's blade should slide on the surface and negate my momentum into the ground. At worst, I'm thinking I'd lose about half of my Aura in the process, but nothing too major. All seems to be according to plan. Until I heard a shotgun shell right next to me and hit me. From what I saw, it looked like it came from Yang. Well, whoever it was, they sent me straight into the forest below. Thankfully, a branch cushioned my fall somewhat. But then it snapped, and I fell into another branch. Then another. And another. And another. I'm sure you get the idea. By the time I landed on the ground, I estimated my Aura was down by about 80%. I took out my scroll and, sure enough, my aura was now at 19.74% left. Thankfully, I'm no stranger to picking and choosing my battles, but with my Aura this weak, I wanted to make absolutely sure that I'd be safe. I used my Semblance to raise the temperature around me. The maximum distance I can cover without burning through my energy is about a 10-meter radius and I can turn it to 95˚ Fahrenheit, just hot enough to slow my opponent's movements. I can make the radius bigger and the temperature hotter, but at my current state, I was in no position to do so. With Semblance active, I walked through Emerald Forest. I noticed some Grimm approach me, but my Semblance worked, and they became too slow to catch me. The walk was relatively peaceful.

(Chihiro's POV)

Flying is a scary experience I never thought I would experience. No, my Semblance of gravity manipulation does not count as flying, it's more floating. Besides, 'Space-Pace', as Stella calls it, really takes its toll on me when I use it on larger masses… Oh wait… I should really do something about that. I used my Semblance on myself and guided myself safely across the forest and into it's center. It's not part of my ailment, but I also have an unnaturally low weight. It's why I'm able to use my Semblance on ME without trouble, unlike anyone else. I hated it, but it helped me this time, so I shouldn't complain. As I was descending, I saw Ren use his daggers on a tree to slow his energy as he went down. I saw Yang up above using her gauntlets to boost herself deeper into the forest. I saw Roderick accidentally get hit by one of the blasts from Yang, and he went crashing into the forest below. Pyrrha's spear had, unfortunately, skewered something in Leichter's hand, which I assumed helped his descent, and he started barreling down too. Lastly, Nora had unintentionally landed a direct hit on Stella, which sent her falling into the forest. I braced myself for some horrible accident to happen to me, but nothing came. That was a small relief as I continued my soft descent. Thankfully, none of my friends were too high up for the fall to cause serious damage to them. Except Stella, who's momentum combined with her Semblance could break her Aura if she collided with something before her momentum slowed down a bit… Oh no… There are plenty of branches in the forest trees and Stella could easily hit one of them. I had to find her and make sure she was okay. As Phasisstutter, combined with my Semblance, safely guided me down, thanks to my very diminutive size and unhealthily light weight, I immediately dashed through the forest, hoping to find Stella before it was too late. Now that I think about it, I was the only one of our group of friends who didn't have any problems when landing. Of course, I still felt like a loser being reminded that I'll never be able to grow up in terms of size. I'll never have a good figure like Yang, Pyrrha, Stella… Stella! Stupid! Pervy! Brain! Thinking about this now? Stella's in trouble and I need to help her. I just hope I'm not too late!

(Leichter's POV)

So much for a nice stroll through the forest. I got jumped by a few Beowulves while searching for one of my peers. I had found nothing except for trees, rocks, and Grimm. Thankfully, I had Safer in hand. I used my hand knife to cut the Grimm when they got too close and parried their claws when they tried to attack. When I got distance, I fired off some Earth Dust rounds which sent the Grimm even further away from me. I smirked a little as the Grimm I had shot and cut down disintegrated into a black mist. Then I heard one last Beowulf emerge from behind me. I turned around to protect myself, but I was unable to bring up my guard in time…

Not unless, the Grimm became oddly slower. I felt the temperature rise a little, and I knew who my partner would be. I used the opportunity to get out of the Beowulf's way as it slowly swung its arm down. Then its body was cut clean in half by the familiar red axe I knew as Rubicante. When the Grimm fell apart, I gazed at my old friend. "Thanks for the save, Roderick." I politely said to my new partner. "It was nothing. Just doing what anyone would have done." He replied. Still as professional as ever. I then noticed his Aura flicker a bit. "What happened to you?" I was genuinely concerned for Roderick. He must have been using is Semblance at the maximum he could do without burning his energy. "Yang accidentally shot me, and I tumbled down some branches." Ah, that would do it. "I built a pocket-copter using some of my scraps from back home in Vacuo and Pyrrha accidentally destroyed it whilst saving Jaune." Roderick let out a small chuckle. "Well, my Aura should be back in about 40 minutes. It's been 20 since we landed." My eyes widened a little. "Really, that long already? Then again, this was going to last us until evening, so I guess it comes off as no surprise." Roderick held out his hand. "Well, ready to get going, partner?" I firmly shook it once. "Yeah, I'll do my best."

(Stella's POV)

This wasn't going well… More Ursa Majors took whiff of my desperation to escape and started hunting me down. I occasionally turned around to fire Starktronic's rocket launcher feature at the Ursa. The Wind Dust propelled rockets did a huge number on the Grimm who didn't get directly hit... Those got destroyed instantly. But I was running out of stamina and Starktronic would run out of ammunition eventually. Then I tripped on a root and I fell forward. I looked behind me and saw there was one Ursa Major gazing at me with a face that looked like death itself. I backed up as much as I could before bumping my back on a tree. With nowhere left to run, and no Aura left, I braced myself for the claw to pierce me. The claw that would take my life…

The claw that never came. I opened my eyes and saw the claw was gone. In fact, the Ursa's entire arm was gone. It looked like it had gone through some sort of portal. I looked to my left and saw the claw, suspended in mid-air. I turned to my right and saw Chihiro using Phasisstutter to protect me. "D-Don't just stand there! Finish it!" Chihiro looked panicked. "R-Right! Thanks Chihi!" With newfound resolve, I picked up Starktronic from the ground and caved the Ursa's head in. The Grimm fell down and it's arm reappeared on its now deceased body. I turned towards Chihiro and gave her a hug. "Thank you soooo much Chihi! You really saved my life!" I felt Chihiro's hands tremble. I looked up and saw tears in her eyes. "I-I thought I wasn't going to make it… Th-That I'd find you-" I put a finger on Chihiro's mouth. I didn't want her to finish that thought. "Hey, it's alright. What matters now is that I'm alive. I'm going to have to talk with Nora after this is all over." Chihiro wiped her eyes and smiled. "It was an accident…" I smiled back. "I know." I left go of her. I felt a bit of my Aura return to me. I pulled out my scroll and saw it was at 30%. Just enough to truck through the rest of initiation. "So, I guess we're partners now, Chihi! Aren't you excited?" We began walking along the path to the temple. "Yeah. It's going to be one awesome ride, Stella."

 **Author's Notes**

 **We have our partners for Team RSCL now. As well as names for their Semblances, for whatever reason. Why? Because I felt Stella would be one to do such a thing. Allow me to explain in detail what each Semblance does,**

 **Roderick's Heat-Haze: Ability to raise the temperature around him. Can raise it high enough to suppress motion, even stop attacks. Can also extend it's radius to cover a wider area. Using it for too long while having the temperature too high or the distance too long will tire him out.**

 **Stella's Iron-Will: Absolute resistance to forced momentum. Cannot take knockback, flinch, or be picked up and thrown. She still feels the pain from attacks, however. She can turn the ability on and off again after a set time variable, and her Aura is active as long as her Semblance is active.**

 **Chihiro's Space-Pace: Can manipulate gravity. Can only focus on one object at a time. Heavier objects will strain her and use her energy to the point of exhaustion if she uses it too long on anything too weighty. The portals she creates is part of her weapon, Phasisstutter, which will be explained along with the rest of RSCL's weapons next chapter in the Author's Notes.**

 **Leichter's Quick-Fix: Is able to dismantle and construct any device with relative ease. He must know how to put something together before being able to use his Semblance to quick build it. He can dismantle anything whenever he pleases, however. Slightly improves his eyesight.**

 **Also, their quirks, in case you haven't figured them out yet. Roderick has a quick temper and is easily provoked. Stella enjoys fighting too much and gets in over her head because of it. Chihiro is a pervert, but is afraid to show it, leading to her mentally beating herself up. And Leichter is truant and constantly sleeps when he's not interested.**

 **Any who, Chapter V should be up sometime between 8/27-9/1. I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters. I only own Team RSCL. And with that, until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	9. Chapter V: Piece It All Together

(Chihiro's POV)

Thank heavens I was able to make it in time. Stella was almost a goner… I'd hate to imagine what would've happened if I was too late… I looked towards my new partner and gave a smile. "Y'know, it's kinda nostalgic. You know, with the four of us together?" Stella seemed a bit better after her brush with death. "Yeah. It's nice to see so many familiar faces. Ones you'd think you'd never see again." It was true what I said. Years ago, when we were all 8, Roderick, Stella, Leichter, and I were the closest of friends in Vacuo. I can still remember the days of us laughing, playing, and talking together as kids. One day, we were separated. Roderick's father had to go to Atlas for work-related reasons and had to take his son with him. Then Stella's mother had found an opening for a blacksmith in Mistral, so Stella had to go with them. And my father had been given an opportunity to teach at Signal, which is why I had to leave to Vale. We all promised to be friends, always. But we were too young to have scrolls, so we could never talk to each other across the kingdoms. But deep down, we remembered each other. Our bonds, unbroken to this day.

"Oh! I think I see a clearing!" I shook myself out of my trip down memory lane and caught up with Stella. Sure enough, there was a clearing. It was the abandoned temple we were supposed to go to. We noticed chess pieces sitting atop the many pillars of the temple. "Chess pieces as relics? What could this mean?" I did wonder the importance of this as well. Then I noticed something. "These look almost freshly carved out. Do you think Professor Ozpin made them?" Stella seemed to have the same thought. "If that's the case, did he travel all the way here to place them here?" We looked at each other with curiosity. "Do we take one?" I was a bit worried that there was something else if we do. "I guess. What could go wrong?" Famous last words. Or not. Stella toke a black rook from its pedestal. I waited in anticipation for something to happen. Nothing did. "Oh thank god! I thought there was going to be a trap here somewhere." I shook my head in agreement. "Yeah, me too." I then noticed something else. "It seems as if some of the pieces aren't here. Did others get here before us?" Stella put the rook in her pocket. "That seems like what happened. I only see one of the white bishops and both black bishops are gone as well." We walked toward each other. "There's no point in staying here. Let's get back to the cliff." Stella started walking on her way to said cliff. "Yeah. I'm with you." I followed.

(Yang's POV)

It looks like Stella and Chihiro made it here before us. It also looks like others got here before they did. It seems they're leaving. I wonder if they know they're going the wrong way?

(Roderick's POV)

"So how did you get yourself in the situation I found you?" I was curious since Leichter's not one to throw himself into a fray like that. "I was looking for my partner and the Beowulves attacked me. I was thinking it'd be nice to have a pleasure stroll in the forest since it might be my only chance in here. Nope." I chuckled a little. Despite being a bit crass, Leichter always had that humor I always enjoyed. "I can't believe that we are all here. Thought I'd never see you guys again." I surmised. "Yeah. I thought you'd be going to Atlas Academy. That place seems pretty efficient." My face turned a bit bitter. "Yeah. But… thing change…"

 _*Flashback Begins; Yesterday*_

 _"So you're really leaving?" Melody asks me. "Yeah. You guys are amazing. But alas, Atlas just isn't for me anymore." Flynt walks up. "I think I know why. Let me guess. More discrimination toward Faunus? So bad it's driving you away?" I nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. I can't stand such bigotry and don't want to be around to be a part of it anymore." I hung my head down in a little shame. "We won't stop you." I looked up and saw Brick. "It's your decision." I smiled. "Yeah, thanks. I'll see you around." I waved goodbye. "It was an honor being by your side!" Brick saluted. "Catch you on the flip, Rod!" Flint tipped his hat. "Don't forget us!" Neon called out. "Au revoir, my friend!" Eduard waved with both hands. "Hope to see you soon!" Melody waved with one arm. "Fare thee well." Infra bowed. I got on board the airship to Beacon and left my true friends behind. I haven't been able to see them since, though Infra and Brick texted me last night about my trip there._

 _*Flashback Ends*_

"I'm sorry. Guess I shouldn't have brought it up." I looked toward Leichter after my reminiscence. He truly looked apologetic. "It's fine. It was a bitter-sweet moment anyhow." I put my arm on his shoulder. He put his on mine in return. "Like true brothers, yeah?" I remembered Leichter saying this when we were younger. "The ones we never had." We both smiled, remembering our blessing and curse as only children. "Hey, I think I see the temple." We let each other go when Leichter said this. Seems he saw something. "Let's check it out." We dashed through the trees and, lo and behold, the temple. It looks like we're not alone either. "Hello there." The two girls turned around. Blake and Yang. Guess they're partners now. "Hey Roderick! Sorry about the gut punch." So it was her that blew my down. Eh, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. "Eh, it was nothing major. You're forgiven." Leichter walked toward the pedestals. "Remind me to teach Stella how to play Chess. She knows the pieces' names but doesn't know how they move." I looked and, sure enough, the relics we were sent to find were indeed chess pieces. "Well, which one you gonna pick?" Yang asked. I looked around and saw a few of the pedestals were empty. "So you two weren't the first ones here?" I asked. "Doesn't seem like it." Blake answered. I turned toward Leichter. "Do you think Stella and Chihiro were here?" Leichter took the remaining black rook from its pedestal and walked toward me. "I don't know. Do you think the two of them are partners?" We both looked a bit concerned for the two of them. "I'm not sure."

Our conversation was interrupted by an unnaturally high-pitched scream. "Some girl's in trouble!" Yang yelled out. I facepalmed, as I knew the origin of that scream. Jaune, what did you get yourself into? "You guys hear that?" We turned towards Yang and Blake. I was more focused on Blake. She looked terrified. She was looking up at something. "What should we do?" Blake pointed upwards. I decided to look up as well. "You can't be serious." Leichter deadpanned. "Heads up!" Ruby was falling directly towards us. I heard another scream nearby. It was Jaune, flying towards Ruby. The two crashed into each other and were sent into the forest. "So that happened." Leichter looked completely unamused. Blake shook her head in disbelief. "Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Yang looked just as baffled as I was. "I-" Before Yang could finish, we heard more Grimm from the opposite side of the forest that Ruby and Jaune entered. Some of the trees fell down revealing an Ursa swinging its claws erratically. "Yeehaw!" The Ursa dropped dead and revealed Nora riding on top of it. "Aww, it's broken." What? Just how crazy is this girl? Ren came from behind the newly dead Ursa. "Nora? Please… don't ever do that again." How does Ren put up with her so much? Nora zoomed over to the temple, leaving an exhausted Ren behind, looking for his friend. She eyed the white rook with sparkly eyes. "I'm Queen of the castle! I'm Queen of the castle!" Nora sang and danced with the rook. "NORA!" Ren finally snapped. "Hehehe, coming Ren!" Nora saluted. "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Another question from Blake. "I-" Another question from Yang interrupted as we turned and saw Pyrrha running from a Deathstalker. The giant scorpion Grimm snapped its pincers at Pyrrha. "Jaune!" She called out. So I guess Pyrrha's partnered up with Jaune huh? Guess it's kind of fitting since it might be needed to balance out Jaune's frailty. I still have yet to see Jaune fight, so it might be too early to call. Ruby rolled out of the forest. "Ruby?" Yang looked at her sister. "Yang!" Ruby seemed happy to see her- "Nora!" Nora interrupted Yang and Ruby's sisterly love. "Of course." I heard Leichter behind me. After what we've just witnessed, I can't necessarily blame him. "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Yet another question from Blake. I can only wonder how Yang's answer is going to get inter- "I can't take it anymore!" Yang burst into flames, her hair flying wildly in the air, and her eyes turning red. This whole thing must have really gotten to her. "Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again!?" Next thing we know, Ruby taps on Yang's shoulder. "Um… Yang?" We all simultaneously look up. We see Weiss hanging on a talon of a giant Nevermore. "How could you leave me!?" Weiss shouts from above. "I said 'jump'." Ruby shouts back. "A Nevermore?" Leichter looks at Ruby in utter dismay. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Ruby tells us. "That took about 2.5 seconds." I tell Yang. "Not helping." She says back. "She's gonna fall." Blake, ever the pessimist. "She'll be fine." Ruby, ever the optimist. "She's falling." Ren deadpans. Sure enough, Weiss is falling down. Then Jaune comes in and catches her bridal-style… in mid-air. Jaune looked so smug until he realized how high up they were. They embraced each other in fear. "NOOO!" Jaune yells as he unceremoniously falls down. He lands on the ground face first. Weiss lands on his back. "My hero." Weiss says sarcastically. "My back…" Jaune says weakly. "My sanity." Leichter says in nihil. "This whole ordeal has gotten to be absurd! What could possibly make it worse!?" I've just about lost it as well. I turn around and hear yelling behind me. It's Stella and Chihiro. Guess the two of them are partners. Speaking of which, I can only surmise that Ruby and Weiss are partners since they are the only ones left unchecked. "What happened?" I ask them. "Well, we got to the temple, we walked along a pathway, it turned out to be the wrong way, and then that!" Stella lists everything that went on. We look in the direction she points, and we see a rather angry Goliath. "I just had to open my mouth…" I completely jinxed it. Pyrrha falls over in front of us after running from the Deathstalker all this time. "Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang and Leichter say at the same time. Speaking of jinx. "Not if I can help it!" Ruby looks back at us cockily, and charges into the fray. "Ruby, wait!" It's at this time Pyrrha get up. "Duh… duh… does she have a plan…?" Chihiro asks, completely out of breath. "I hope she does…"

(Stella's POV)

Why did Rody say that? We know we have a Goliath on us right now. So why is Ruby going the opposite way? Then I looked in the direction she was running and saw a Deathstalker. Then I proceeded to look up and saw a Nevermore. Great. Three of the most dangerous Grimm known to all of Remnant are all on the prowl for us. And Ruby is charging in head first into the danger. She launches herself into the Deathstalker, aiming to slash its head. No avail, the Grimm scorpion swatted her away with very little effort. "D-Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby says this, but she looks the complete opposite. It's as if she was in a daze. She turns around to see the Deathstalker snapping its claws at her, as if it was looking at its prey. Ruby packed away her scythe and made a mad dash to us. Yang went out to get her herself. "RUBY!" The two sisters are converging on each other when the Nevermore shoots its quills at them. Ruby didn't get hit, but her cape did. Yang managed to stop just before one of the feathers got her. "Ruby, get out of there!" Yang tells Ruby in complete worry. "I'm trying!" Ruby struggles to get her cape free, to no avail.

Then we heard a loud wail behind us. The Goliath. Left unchecked, it's going to be a problem. "Come on guys, let's go!" Rody tells us. I see Leichter clap his face with both hands. "Right. No time to waste!" And with that, Rody, Chihi, Leichter and I do all we can to stop the Goliath from inflicting any harm to our new friends. Roderick used Rubicante to burst it back with his explosive musket shots and heavy swings. I used Starktronic to blow it back with wind, knock it back with forward strikes, and blast it back with rockets. Chihiro used Phasisstutter and sent particle explosions at the beast, holding it in place for a second before bursting into plasma. Leichter used the gun function on Safer to do whatever he could, since a head-on assault against a Goliath with a knife wasn't going to be very effective. We held it back for a while. We saw ice form below the Goliath's feet. It slipped on it. "What was-" I was cut off as a white blur went forward, in Ruby's direction. We turned and saw the Deathstalker about to pierce Ruby with it's massive stinger. "RUBY!" Yang attempted to reach out to her sister. The Deathstalker lunged its stinger at Ruby to kill her.

It never made impact. Well, it did. It just didn't hit Ruby. We saw a wall of ice trap the pincer right before it struck the little rosebud. "You are so childish!" Weiss. She saved Ruby's life. "And dimwitted, and hyperactive. And don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose, I can be a bit… difficult. But if we're going to do this we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer." Well what do you know. Guess whatever Leichter told her got through to her somewhat. I look toward Leichter and see a small smile on his face. "What did you say to her?" I hear Rody to my right. "Eh, just to take it easy every once in a while." Leichter looks a bit proud. Not smugly, but as if he accomplished something. "I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this." Ruby looks a tad ashamed. "You're fine." Weiss says, and helps Ruby on her feet. Then I saw Yang and Rody run to them. Yang lovingly embraces Ruby, a look of relief on her face. "So happy you're okay!" Rody pats her on the back. "You showed bravery there. Admirable. But rushing in without a plan is an easy way to get hurt, or worse. You CAN do this. But not alone. WE can do this, together." And with that speech of inspiration, Yang, Ruby, Rody, and Weiss regroup with the rest of us.

(Leichter's POV)

Glad I was able to ease Weiss's anger a bit. A calm mind is a boon in combat. And in the situation we're in, we're going to need it. To the north we have a very predacious Deathstalker. To our south, a very savage Goliath. And above, a very deadly Nevermore. Which is circling back toward us. "Guys, that thing's circling back." Thanks Jaune. No really, some of us legitimately didn't see the giant deadly bird turning around to get us. Mostly because they were focused on Ruby almost going through Death's Door. "So, what happens now?" Chihiro asks us. "Well, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss states. "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs." Ruby agrees. I could see Weiss's face light up in approval. However, what Ruby says next… "There's no point in fighting those things." That's wrong. I'm sure Roderick knows this too and will point that out. "A good strategy, but unfortunately not one we can utilize. At the Grimm's current state of being, if we leave, they're sure to follow us. And you can immediately tell how much damage they're able to cause." Roderick gestures to the surrounding forest area. Indeed, most of the trees in the general vicinity are either broken or tipped over. "If we leave those things be, they'll follow us to Beacon and cause some serious damage until someone there eventually destroys them. What applies to us applies to the Grimm as well. Alone, they are weak. Together, they are devastating. I'd rather not take any chances on the destruction of Beacon property." I do admire Roderick's professionalism. He was always a bit orderly, but his time in Atlas definitely improved his general thinking. "So what do we do?" Jaune asks. "First, any pairs who have not collected a relic should do so now." Ruby and Jaune nod and go to collect their relics. Ruby grabbing a white knight and Jaune acquiring a white rook. "Good. Now, we need to lure them to a place where we can separate the Grimm. Preferably one with ample cover for us to kite them." Stella steps up. "I saw a deserted sanctuary somewhere on the path we took. We should be able to divide and conquer there." That'll do. At this moment Ruby and Jaune recongregate with us. "Time we left." Ren declares "Right." Ruby affirms. "Lead the way Stella!" Roderick instructs. "Alright!" And with that, we leave to guide the Grimm towards the sanctuary. And just in time too. The Goliath regained it's balance and started charging at us, and the Deathstalker got its stinger free.

(Roderick's POV)

So far, so good. We managed to get the Grimm to chase us to the sanctuary, which didn't take us very long to find. "Right here!" Chihiro exclaims. We all hide behind pillars to stay out of the Nevermore's sight. It fails since it knew we were here in the first place. At least we got it here. Then I notice something. My face turns into one of calm-mindedness, to one of irritation. "Stella! THIS IS BEACON CLIFF!" I yell. Stella looks dumbfounded. "It is!? Man, I'm terrible with directions." Leichter face-palms. "Well that's great." Yang says sarcastically. "Looks like we'll have to take them out here, divided or not." Pyrrha says, she is correct in saying this. Behind us, we see the Deathstalker and the Goliath approach us. "Oh man, run!" Jaune says. We do. "Nora, distract it!" Ren says as we run. Nora rolls to dodge the feathers the Nevermore shoots at her. Then locks her grenade launcher and unloads her explosives at the Grimm. It actually works better than intended and forces the Nevermore away from our path of travel. "Yeah, Stella could testify to how strong those grenades are." Chihiro tells me. "Did she get- Nora! Behind you!" I couldn't finish my train of thought as the Deathstalker creeped behind Nora. Nora turned around to see the Grimm approach, but Blake and Ren intercepted it. Stella then used the briefly dazed scorpion to jump of its head and ram her pillar to force the Goliath behind the Deathstalker back a little. Wiess used a glyph to launch herself to get Nora to safety shortly afterwards. Pyrrha, Ren, and Leichter stopped to take a few shots at the Grimm behind us, but when they saw it was to little avail, they hastily retreated. The Deathstalker and Goliath stopped before stepping on the bridge, presumably due to its inability to support two heavy Grimm on it at once. The Nevermore returned behind a small mountain and rammed into the bridge, separating the twelve of us. Ren, Pyrrha, Blake, Chihiro, and I were forced to stay on the side of the other two Grimm. Ruby, Jaune, Weiss, Nora, Blake and Leichter safely made it to the other side. Stella wasn't so lucky and was hanging on the edge of the destroyed bridge. Chihiro used her power glove to create a portal below Stella's dangling feet. The other portal appearing right beside me. Stella let go of the bridge and safely landed on our side of the bridge. "That's twice now you've saved me Chihi!" I heard her say. Chihiro giggled a little. "Check your six!" I yelled. The Deathstalker had seized the opportunity to attack us while we couldn't get anymore distance from it, the Goliath not far behind. We tried to fight it off as best as we could, but any of our Dust rounds couldn't dent it's armor, and any close-ranged offensives were only swatted away. "We need help!" "Man, we have to get over there!" I hear Jaune behind me. "Let's do this!" Nora says. "And how do you suppose we get over there? I don't think we can clear this jump." Leichter remarks. What happens next is unbelievable. Nora knocks Leichter and Jaune back and unpacks her hammer. "Oh, wait!" And proceeds to smash the bridge they were standing on. Fortunately Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were on solid ground at the time. I could see Jaune and Leichter fly in the air, thankfully landing where we were. Nora blasted her grenade on the rubble she created to propel herself to our side and proceeded to smash the Deathstalker. It survived, unfortunately, and attempted to skewer Nora with its stinger. She jumped back to avoid it, bumping into Blake in the process. I was able to catch Blake before she fell off the bridge. "Your partner needs help." I tell her. "Get me over there." She tells me. "Get on." I have Blake step on my axe's wayside. I swing to give her the momentum needed to make the jump. Firing my weapon also provided a boost to the speed. It would've actually worked, but the Nevermore saw this and flew towards Blake. Seeing this, I shot my musket at it once to knock it away. Blake, however, didn't need my help as she used her grappling hook to etch itself into the broken bridge and proceeded to tilt herself away from the other side of the bridge and propel herself upward with the pendulum movement she created. She landed on the Nevermore's head and proceeded to run along it's back, slashing it a few times with her katana before landing on the other side. We smiled and nodded at each other before returning to our respective fights. "Chihiro! Get us behind the Goliath!" If we can get behind the Goliath, we can split the two giant Grimm's attention on two fronts. "Yes, sir!" Huh, never was called that before. Chihiro complies and teleports me, herself, Stella, and Leichter behind the Goliath, still focused on what's in front of it. "Stella!" "Right!" Taking her cue, Stella launches a rocket at the Goliath's back. That got it's attention, and thankfully, not the Deathstalker's.

It was Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang against the Nevermore, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren against the Deathstalker, and me, Stella, Chihiro, and Leichter against the Goliath. Perfect! This is what we needed! "Alright guys! Let's go!" I rally my friends together. "Right!" They're all ready. WE'RE all ready. I issue one more order; "Fire at it! Keep it busy! Chihiro, you know what to do!" Leichter goes to the left, Stella went to the right, and Chihiro and I stayed in the center. We all fired at the Goliath, forcing it to change its aggro numerous times. One of the thing's I learned about the Goliaths is that their attention can easily be obtained with even a simple pot shot. That was the goal. Keep it off Chihiro until her plasmatic disruptions knock it off balance.

(Chihiro's POV)

I used Phasisstutter to blast the Goliath with plasma bursts. What I wanted to do was knock it off balance, or at least make it stumble, even just a little. It worked, and the Goliath was forced a little back. I used my portal to trap one of it's feet and send it on the other portal to Leichter Its main body hit the ground and the foot was suspended in mid-air. "Do it Leichter!" I hope this works.

(Leichter's POV)

With the Goliath's foot exposed, I knew what I had to do. The foot of a Goliath is what makes the beast so sturdy. Take that away, and you only have a flailing, stationary walrus. Relatively harmless. Once Chihiro teleported the foot to me, I used Safer to skewer it multiple times, carving holes in it. Then I forced the foot back through the portal, knocking it off balance again. Chihiro teleported another foot to me and you can guess what happened next. We repeated the process with each of its feet. After the last foot was cut up and forced back, the Goliath fell over on its stomach. "Stella, you're up!" Now we wait.

(Stella's POV)

Now it was my turn! I rushed into the grounded Grimm with all I had. I placed Starktronic on its face and spun it's fan-like wheels against it. My goal was to break the armor on said face and make it open for an instant kill. After a solid 5 seconds, the mask cracked. Not enough, got to blast it down I guess. I jumped and rammed my rocket-side of Starktronic into the mask, cracking it a little further. Then I fired my missile into it at point blank and the mask finally cracked. I deactivated Iron-Will just at that time and let my body get blown away from it. "It's all yours Rody!" I know you can do it!

(Roderick's POV)

It's time to end this. I let out a battle cry as I ran up to the Goliath and swung Rubicante down on its head. To guarantee the Grimm's death, I fired an explosive round into its head. It sagged as I took my axe out of its head. It's done. I turn around to see Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren exhausted. They were able to defeat the Deathstalker. I was able to hear Jaune giving commands during our fight. "Great tactical work Jaune. Your defensive capability's not bad either." I pat Jaune's back. He smiles at me. I look forward again and… I can't believe it.

(Stella's POV)

I gaze toward Nora. She looked a bit guilty. "Sorry about the bomb to the face." I could feel her heartfelt apology, even from that innocent little smile of hers. "I'd say I almost died, but after today, ANYONE could say that." The two of us laugh a little. "I forgive you." I say cheerfully. I think we just started a great friendship here… Well that's not something you see every day.

(Chihiro's POV)

I smile at our successes. Pyrrha's right beside me. Should I tell her that I think she's… "You did well. Nice work Chihiro." Oh gods… She put her hand on my shoulder… She complimented me… Her eyes are beautiful just like her… I think… I…

(Pyrrha's POV)

Chihiro fainted. Oh dear. I puck her up and carry her. She's very light. I think she's a bit subconscious about that. Maybe putting my hand on her shoulder wasn't the best idea then. Oh well. I hear Chihiro moan a little. She just came to. I feel her legs trembling. I guess they're feeling a bit weak. "Thanks Pyrrha…" I guess she's happy… Oh my…

(Leichter's POV)

Oh dear, Chihiro fainted again. Pyrrha's carrying her. If I had to guess, Chihiro's head couldn't take Pyrrha's beauty and niceness and shut itself down. I look over to Stella and she and Nora and they're talking about me and Ren, who just so happens to be right beside me. "What great friends we have, huh?" I ask him. "Yes. They are." We smile at each other… What on earth did I just see?

(Roderick's POV)

I can't believe what I just saw. I look at my friends, old and new, and we all have the same look of surprise on our face. Ruby Rose had just decapitated a Nevermore. She ran up the cliff, the scythe firmly hooked onto the Grimm's neck, and it cut clean through. Words cannot express how amazed I was, and I'm sure the others all think the same. "Alright guys. Let's get back to Beacon. Chihiro, if you please." The easiest way is usually the best one. Chihiro can easily teleport us to the top of the cliff so we can return triumphant. "Yeah, I got it." She conjures a portal to where Ruby is, the other right where we are. One by one, we step through the portal and rejoin the Red Reaper. After the last one goes through (Ren), Chihiro relocates the portal to Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They walk though and join us up on top. "Okay guys. Let's get back to Beacon." Ruby tells us. We all follow her, heads held up high.

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team CRDL. Led by... Cardin Winchester." Ozpin had formed the third freshman team here at Beacon, CaRDinaL. There were two others before them. ECRU and HoneYDeW. ECRU consisted of Emmet Vio, Clive Gronn, Ruediger Rosa, and Uhai Machun after they collected the black knight pieces. HYDW was comprised of Herald Razzmatazz, Midori Yochu, Diane Limerick, and Kallyn Wheatley since they got the white bishop pieces. Everyone applauded as CRDL left diligently as the next set of four went up. "Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team JNPR." Nora hugs Ren as the crowd applauds. Ozpin wasn't finished yet. "Led by… Jaune Arc!" Jaune seemed confused. I, despite my initial thoughts of him, was not. Despite his combat prowess seemingly to be defensive only, he is a good tactician who can hold his own. Even though he can be a bit clumsy, which Pyrrha has just shown since a light jab to the shoulder made him stumble a bit, but not fall over. They left the stage in high spirits. Now, it was our turn. "Leichter Xandercat, Stella Capulet, Roderick Montague, Chihiro Ariado. The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as… Team RSCL." An odd color to choose. Rascal Red was conceived only three weeks ago. It was a lighter shade of maroon, yet darker than burgundy. "Led by… Roderick Montague!" I was the leader? "We expect great thing from you, sir." Leichter puts his arm on my shoulder. "I vow to be ever ready to lead my new team forward." With these new words, I leave the stage with my old friends from Vacuo. It looks like we might never be separated again. Now, it was time for the last team. "And finally, Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. And Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as… Team RWBY. Led by… Ruby Rose. Ruby's new teammates look towards her. They all look proud. Even Weiss. Yang runs up to Ruby and hugs her. "Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year." Ozpin says as everyone departs to their dorms, or new dorms in the first years' case.

 **Author's Notes (Fixed an error on HYDW's team)  
**

 **Well gee. Longest chapter I've written to date. I'm sure that's going to change somewhere down the line. Our teams are now formed. Here are the OC teams;**

 **RSCL: Roderick** **Olive** **r Montague, Stella** **Copper** **pot Capulet, Chihiro** **Lazuli** **Ariado, Leichter** **Sangria** **Xandercat.**

 **ECRU: Emmet** **Vio** **, Clive** **Gronn** **, Ruediger** **Rosa** **, Uhai** **Machun** **.**

 **HYDW: Herald** **Razzmatazz** **,** **Midori** **Yochu, Diane** **Limerick** **, Kallyn** **Wheat** **ley.**

 **And as promised, the weapons of RSCL;**

 **Rubicante: A dual-sided axe encrusted with fire Dust. It can cut through most objects and has an explosive musket built into it.**

 **Starktronic: A turbine pillar powered by wind Dust. It has great vacuum power on both sides of the spectrum. Also functions as a rocket launcher, its ammunition being high concentrations of Dust energy.**

 **Phasisstutter: A spacial power glove. It can create portals and cause plasmatic bursts of energy. It has a hexagram of Water Dust woven into it. Somewhat strengthens Chihiro's Semblance.**

 **Safer: A hand knife with an earth Dust carved edge. It has a six-shooter built into it that can fire off earth Dust rounds. Can easily wear down Aura but has a hard time cutting armor.**

 **Also, you can already tell that RSCL's presence if altering the course of canon. Even if it's only minimal or insignificant stuff now, it will evolve into something major soon enough. Examples include Weiss picking Ruby up (She doesn't do this in the original), Blake not falling off the bridge involuntarily (Here she purposefully does it as Roderick veers the Nevermore away), and Jaune not falling over (Which he does in canon. This actually will make Jaune become a little more significant later on).**

 **That should be everything. ECRU and HYDW will have some importance in the story later on. Sorry it took until the end of my deadline to post this, but my schedule, as I predicted, made it so I couldn't finish this before today. Anyhow, you probably noticed on my account page that I have new stories on the horizon. Look forward to those. Next chapter of RSCL shall be completed and posted between 9/6 and 9/10. I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Teams RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW, Melody Mars, Brick Valter, Eduard Killarney, and Infra Nett. Also, a bit of a small hinter after the ANs. I'll leave you to that. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**

(No POV)

The night of Remnant, in an abandoned warehouse. We see a criminal known and loathed in all of Vale. Roman Torchwick. He has just finished a call with his employer. He seems frustrated. He pulls out his cigar and smokes it with his lighter. A White Fang member pushes in a massive container, filled with Dust. Roman pays the grunt. "Open it." He commands. The grunt complies. Roman takes a piece of water Dust from the newly opened container. "We're gonna need more men." He states dryly. That's when the door opens only a smidge. A man with mahogany, flat hair, arched in a V straight down to his nose. He's wearing a white, sleek jacket and carmine red, thin jeans. His shoes are blood red and his belt is silver, which holds two steel rectangular prisms that look like they could unfold. He slides headfirst and stomach down into Torchwick's base. "We know. That's why the boss sent me!" His raspy voice resounds throughout the warehouse, as he stands up without kneeling. "Mikhail Orochi. What are you doing here, sir?" The grunt is curious about his sudden appearance. "Oh can it, would you? Taurus just sent me here. And you already know the why." Mikhail walks toward Torchwick. "Alright, sir." He says the last part sarcastically. "Let's get to work." Mikhail sinisterly grins, bearing his snake fangs tipped fuchsia and his eyes glowing yellow. The last thing heard is another grunt coming in and closing the warehouse door.


	10. Chapter VI: Burdened Hearts

(Stella's POV)

I wake up and yawn. Today is the first day of classes, which means we have to be able to make a schedule to make sure each day goes smoothly for us. Seeing as I'm the first one awake, I head into the bathroom to take a shower and get changed. Yeah, a nice warm shower should get me all nice and rested for the day. After I'm finished, I change into my school uniform. Once I leave the bathroom, I am greeted by Chihi and our new leader. "Good morning, Rody! Good morning, Chihi!" They smile back. "Morning, Stella." They say simultaneously. I did notice a distinct lack of an awake Leichter among us. I turned toward his bed and found him still asleep. "Are we going to do something about him?" We start thinking of ways to wake Leichter up. He was always drowsy, sleeping whenever he felt like it. It wasn't easy to wake him up either. "We could pour cold water on his head." Chihi suggests. "I could make it uncomfortable for him." Rody offers. What he means is that he could make it hotter in the room, literally. Heat-Haze + Under blankets = Way too hot, as I've learned before. "We could blow a whistle into his ear." I propose. "Well, we may have to do it fast. What time is it?" Rody asks. "6:30." We hear Leichter behind us. In the short three minutes we talked of ways to get him up, he had already woken up, gotten dressed, and packed his backpack. Needless to say, we were all dumbfounded on how quickly he had gotten ready. "Classes start at 9:00. That gives us about 2 hours to get prepared for the day, eat breakfast, and arrive at class." Roderick speculates. "I'm already washed up. Who's next?" I ask. "I showered before going to bed." Leichter states. "As did I." Roderick says. "I guess I'll go then." Chihi decides. Chihi went in the bathroom with her uniform. The sounds of water running through a showerhead was then heard in our room. Knowing Chihi, it was probably cold.

"Wow. I can't believe we're a team now. It feels so long since we were together last, and now we'll be together forever." It truly was a momentous occasion. We were separated when we were very young and had no way of talking with each other to keep in touch. Now we'll never have that problem, cause we're never getting driven apart again. "My sentiments exactly. You've all changed since the last time I saw all of you." Rody says. "Really? I haven't noticed." Leichter sarcastically remarks. "I'm finished!" Chihi calls out to us. We turn towards the bathroom and saw Chihiro fully prepared. "Well then, shall we go eat? I'm a bit famished." Our new leader says. We all nod and follow him.

(Roderick's POV)

Once we had arrived at the cafeteria, we got our food and sat down to eat. Looking around, I saw a few familiar faces. Teams ECRU was sitting and eating together while the boys of team HYDW and Russel from CRDL were waiting in line for food. We noticed a few other students that looked older than us, presumably our upperclassmen. Most noticeably, a fashionable young woman and as athletic young man stuck out to me. Odd… Observing my surroundings further, I noticed that HYDW's girls, RWBY, JNPR, and the rest of CRDL were not present in the cafeteria. Either they are already at class, or still in their dorms. I checked the time on my scroll. 8:25. "We should probably get going." I suggest. My team nods back and finished their breakfast. We then left to our homeroom.

Once we arrived, I looked around and saw that Midori and Diane were already here. Where CRDL was, I couldn't say. I didn't see them on our way here other than Russel in the cafeteria. It looks like we got here before our teacher, so we decided to talk amongst ourselves for now. "You did what?" Leichter asks bewilderedly. "Yep. Beat the absolute crap out of that bully in the streets. He ran because he thought I was a freak. You guys know it's my semblance of course." Stella had told us a story of how she defended a Faunus kid from a man twice their size. Conveniently, that kid is the one who told her to become a Huntress in the first place. "While I don't condone the violence you used, I do commend you for sticking up for those who cannot protect themselves." I applaud Stella's efforts. "Oh don't lie to me Rody. You and I both know that you're happy to see that guy get what he deserved." Stella badgers me. It was true. I can't stand Faunus discrimination. With the amount of bigotry at Atlas there was, I wasn't going to stay there any longer. "Well, I'm glad you did. If you hadn't, we might not be together right now." Chihiro says.

The teacher had just walked in. I checked the time. 8:55. "Hello there future Huntsmen and Huntresses. I am your homeroom teacher, Professor Port. Congratulations on succeeding your initiation. I look forward to seeing your progress. We still have about 2 more minutes until class begins, so allow me to-" Professor Port gets cut off by the door suddenly slamming open. Teams RWBY and JNPR looked exhausted, as if they ran all the way here from their dorms. Actually, now that I think of it, that's entirely possible. "Ah, there we are. Now our entire class is present. And just in time too. I suppose we should begin class. Now take your seats everyone." Port says, jubilee and confidence resounding in his voice. This should be an interesting class.

(Chihiro's POV)

"Monsters! Demons… Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I, merely refer to them as prey." Port says, then laughs to himself, out loud for everyone to hear. It doesn't seem like anyone else shares his stance on the matter however. "Uhh, and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Out planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces." The creatures of Grimm. "And that's where we come in. Huntsman! Huntresses…" He says the last word a bit seductively. He then clicks his tongue at Yang. That's disturbing, and it seems Yang agrees with me. Port then resumes his lecture. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. From what you ask? Why… the very world!" One lone student raises his fist in agreement. It has everyone looking at him. He sinks down in his seat in embarrassment. "That is what you are training to become. But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome, man. Me! When I was a boy I…" His story about himself fell on mostly deaf ears. I looked around and almost nobody was paying attention to him. I looked to where the shouter was, and he was being chastised by his team, presumably on speaking out at unexpected times. I didn't recognize the team from initiation, it wasn't JNPR, ECRU, CRDL, HYDW, or RWBY. Must've been initiated at an earlier date. Beacon does have early initiations over holiday season. Speaking of HYDW, I found them doing idle movements. Herald was doing card tricks, Midori was twirling her antenna-like hair, Diane had electricity emanating from her fingertips, and Kallyn was looking around the room, presumably daydreaming. Behind us, I found ECRU doing just about the same. Emmet was listening to music on his earbuds, Clive had a wind spiral on the palm of his hand, Ruediger looked like he was praying, and Uhai was drawing something. Speaking of drawing, in front of us, Ruby was drawing something as well. She had a giddy look on her face. Whatever she was drawing, it seemed to amuse her a lot. "Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me…" Our professor only went on and on. I heard Ruby snicker to herself a little. With nothing else better to do, we turned our heads as Ruby showed us what she was drawing. It was a more-corpulent version of Professor Port with stink-lines coming out of him, eloquently named; Professor Poop. Ruby then made a fart sound with her mouth. Stella, Yang, and Ruby couldn't help but laugh a bit out loud. Blake seemed to smile in amusement and I could feel myself, Roderick, and Leichter try to hold back our laughter. It wasn't just us who saw it though. Team ECRU was snickering as well, seeing as they weren't too far away to be unable to see Ruby's drawing. I heard Kallyn laugh across from us, however. How HE managed to see it is beyond me. I looked over at him, and what surprised me is that his left eye was projecting a picture. Judging by how Midori and Herald were stifling their laughter, I could guess what it was. Diane rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face as well. I looked back at Weiss. She wasn't pleased. Peter then clears his throat to get the classes' attention again. Once everything had quieted down, Port resumed his story. "In the end the beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity. And I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high. Celebrated, as a hero." Peter than bows down, expecting applause. Nobody clapped to his story. The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable." Ruby was balancing her book and an apple on a pencil. How she managed to do that is actually impressive. Weiss didn't see it that way and was starting to get even angrier. "A true Huntsman must be dependable." Ruby proceeded to fall instantly asleep. Weiss getting more and more peeved. "A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise." And Ruby was picking her nose. Weiss's displeasure and irritation was becoming more and more apparent. This couldn't end well. Well, from what I've seen back at Beacon Cliff, Ruby did have a good plan on taking out the Nevermore, so I guess she is strategic. Weiss didn't seem to care about that, however. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Roderick was about to stand up, but Weiss's hand shot up faster than he could stand up. "I do sir!" Weiss exclaims. "Well then, let's find out." We then heard gnarling as someone pushes in a cage. Inside, all we could see were two, glowing, blood-red eyes. "Step forward, and face your opponent."

(Leichter's POV)

After Weiss had changed into her combat attire, it was her against whatever it was inside that cage. Naturally, her team was cheering for her. "Go Weiss!" Yang cheered. "Fight well!" Blake called holding a Team RWBY flag- Okay, how on earth did she get that? "Yeah, represent Team RWBY!" Ruby exclaims. "Ruby, I need to focus!" Weiss snaps. Oh dear… What happened now? "Alright. Let the match, begin." Port opens the cage, revealing a Boarbatusk. The Grimm charged head first in Weiss's direction, no doubt attracted to her negative emotions. She sidesteps and slashes at it with her rapier, but the Boarbatusk's armor repelled the attack, rendering it ineffective. The Grimm circled back and glared at Weiss. "Haha, wasn't expecting that were you?" Port commentates. "Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby cheers. This time, it was Weiss's turn to charge into the Grimm. Big mistake. It parried her attack by swinging its tusks to the side, forcing Weiss's back toward its face. She got hit by one of the tusks and her rapier got caught in the other. "Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port compliments. Weiss struggles to get her weapon free. "Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!" Weiss takes one second to glare at Ruby, giving the Boarbatusk the leverage it needed to force Weiss away from her weapon. Her sword clangs to the ground on the opposite side of the Grimm, out of Weiss's immediate reach. "Oho, now what will you do without your weapon?" Port challenges. The Grimm charges at Weiss. She, thankfully, rolls out of the way and sprints for her rapier. "Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-" "Can you just stop for one second!?" Weiss barks. Ruby seems a bit guilty. I then notice Weiss be in thought for a second. It's as if she forgot that crucial detail about the Boarbatusks. The one in front of her spins in a wheel, aiming to take Weiss down for the count. Weiss then refocuses on what's in front of her. She immediately summons a glyph to repel the Grimm, which sends in on its back, stomach exposed. Weiss summons another glyph, jumps on it, and propels herself toward the Grimm, skewering it with the rapier. The Grimm's flailing, then going limp signified its death. "Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress in training." Weiss sheathes her weapon, panting in exhaustion. She looks toward her team. Ruby seems a but hurt on the inside. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and, stay vigilant. Class dismissed." And with that, our first day of school had concluded. Yeah, not exactly the most exciting day, considering Grimm Studies was about 70% Port regaling us of his stories when he was in his prime. Hmm, I wonder how Weiss is. She seemed a bit, unsettled.

(Weiss's POV)

I needed to clear my head. After today's classes, I need a bit of respite. Leichter was right. I do need to relax every now and then. And now, I REALLY needed it. "Weiss!" Ruby calls. I continue walking. "What's wrong with you? Why are you being-" I cut Ruby off. "Not now, Ruby! I need some time to myself!" I tell her. I continue walking toward the balcony. Ruby's footsteps cannot be heard. She's not following me. In truth, I did want to tell her off for her behavior. She's been acting like a child ever since we met. And quite frankly, I don't believe she's playing the part of our leader. I reach the balcony, and see Leichter and Professor Port, watching the sunset.

(Ruby's POV)

"Hmm, that actually went better than I expected." I hear behind me. I turn around and see Professor Ozpin. "Ozpin, do you think you made a mistake on choosing me to be the leader?" I ask. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I can infer that Weiss isn't proud of me being her leader. "That remains to be seen" Ozpin tells me. What does he mean?

(Leichter's POV)

"Professor Port." Weiss says. Sure, ignore me. I really don't mind. "Ah, Miss Schnee. Here to gaze at the sunset with me and Mister Xandercat?" He asks. "No, not really. But, I enjoyed your lecture." She says. This must be something she wants to ask Port. "Of course you did, child; you have the blood of a true Huntress in you." "You really think so?" "Most surely." I don't feel like prying into, otherwise, private affairs. I get up to leave but… "Mister Xandercat, stay here if you please." Oh great. I slump back into the bench. "Hmm, something's troubling you." Port observes. "Yes, sir." She says with a bit of fault. "Dear girl, confess to us your strife." Wait, what? Why does Port want me to know this? What does he have planned? "Well, I think I should've been the leader of team RWBY." A long silence. I snicker a little. Wiess glares at me, however… "That's preposterous."

(Ruby's POV)

"What do you mean?" I ask Ozpin. "I mean, it's only been one day. Ruby, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them." He says. I wonder what he meant by 'he's made more mistakes than anyone on this planet.' "Do you?"

(Weiss's POV)

"Is that so?" I ask, a bit skeptical. "Indeed. I have believed in Professor Ozpin for many years, and not once has he led me astray." He proclaims. "But you saw how exceptionally skilled I was. Do you still believe in him?" I ask. I wanted a few more answers. "With all due respect, your exceptional skill is only matched by your poor attitude." That was insulting. Before I could reprimand him… "She is getting better, Professor Port." I turn toward Leichter. He seemed a bit proud. But at who? Me? Or himself? "I couldn't help but overhear you on your way here. You did the right thing by not chewing out Ruby." I guess that answers that question. "Wait, you were eavesdropping!?" Professor Port cleared his throat to get our attention again. "None the less, I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted." Professor Port pronounces. "That's not even remotely true." I refute. Both Professor Port and Leichter look at me with doubtful looks on their face. "Well, not entirely true." I relent a little.

(Ruby's POV)

"Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly." Ozpin's right. I'm a leader now. Guess I have to act like one now, huh? "If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?"

(Weiss's POV)

"So things didn't end up the way you wanted. Big whoop. But acting like you should always get what you want isn't going to change anyone's minds, now will it?" Leichter asks me. It was a bit rude, but he's right. In the end, acting like I'm on some pompous high-horse isn't going to change anything. "Well said, Mister Xandercat. Though, I would've said so in a bit more of a delicate manner." Port says. I hear Leichter scoff a little. "So, Miss Schnee. Instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be." Professor Port's words ring true in my heart. "Now, I have paperwork to do, so I'll leave the two of you be. Goodbye Miss Schnee. Mister Xandercat." And with that, Professor Port walks away to, presumably, his office. "So." I turn towards Leichter. "Now do you want to watch the sunset?"

(Ruby's POV)

"You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you to take some time, to think about how you will uphold it." Ozpin leaves it at that and leaves. I do think. I turn to where Weiss is. She and Leichter are on separate benches, watching the sunset. "So what will you do?" I turn around, thinking it's Ozpin. Who I'm greeted with instead is a surprise. "How will you handle what has been given to you?" Roderick presents me with another question. "Hehe, that's a good question."

(Roderick's POV)

"You know, you're not the first person I've asked that question to." I tell her. "Really? Then who was the first?" She asks. "Me." I tell her. She looks a bit confused. "When I was appointed as RSCL's leader, I had to ask myself if I was truly capable of a leadership role. Ultimately, I ended up with no answer." Ruby looks even more confused. "The reason I couldn't come up with the answer, is because there is now answer." Ruby finally speaks up. "But why ask a question if it has no answer?" I look steadily at Ruby. "Another good question. Only, this one DOES have an answer. By asking yourself if you are capable, you put things into perspective. One must be able to discern what they can do, what they cannot do, and what they have not tried. And in both of our situations, we are at option three. Which is…" Hopefully Ruby catches on. "That we haven't tried?" I nod. "Correct. We don't know if we are worth our position yet. But one must be willing to venture into the unknown in order to make it known. So now I ask again; what will you do?" I ask Ruby one last time. She seems a bit more confident now. "I think I know."

(Weiss's POV)

It's late. Watching the sunset with Leichter turned out to be a bigger time-killer than we had thought. I silently enter our dorm and notice my three teammates asleep. Most notably, to me, Ruby's bed was littered with textbooks, worksheets, and she had a pencil in her hand. It looked like Ruby was putting forth an effort after all. I gently nudged her to wake her up. "Weiss! I-I was studying, and I fell asleep. I'm sorry." I cover her mouth and gesture her to be quiet. I don't want Blake or Yang to be waken up in the middle of the night. "How do you take your coffee?" I ask. "Uh, I-I don't." I knew that was a lie since I saw her coffee mug on her bed. "Answer the question." I prod. "Uhh, cream and five sugars." I sigh a little. She almost yelled the answer out loud in panic. "Don't move." I quickly make Ruby a coffee, exactly as she liked it. Cream with five sugars. I give it to Ruby. "Here." Ruby seems a little shook, as if she weren't expecting this. "Um, thanks Weiss." She thanks me. "Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a great leader. Just know, that I'm going to be the best teammate you'll ever have." We both smile at each other. "Good luck studying." I then notice something. "That's wrong by the way." Guess Ruby being sleepy influenced her answers a bit. I grab my pajamas, and head to the washroom to change. "Hey Ruby?" "Uh-huh?" "I always wanted bunk-beds as a kid."

 **Author's Notes**

 **Roderick and Ruby's Heart-to-Heart, the first day of class, and one of the best mini-character arcs in RWBY, in my opinion. We even get a little preview of what ECRU and HYDW can do. Can you guess what their Semblance is? Some are obvious, some are not, and some have already been shown to be used. Also, thanks to Leichter, Weiss wasn't as harsh to Ruby when ruby asks what was wrong. Like I said, RSCL's presence is already affecting canon. And, also like I said, it is becoming more and more significant, little by little. So now I ask, what will happen next? Well, for those of you expecting the Jaundice Arc next, I have something for you before we het there. Teams RWBY, JNPR, and RSCL are going to get to know ECRU and HYDW a bit better, since those two teams will have more significance later on as well. I'm doing this to fill in a bit of a gap between the first week, and the week the arc actually happens, since it is implied to have been at least a whole month since Jaundice was released. Since the next chapter will delve into these two teams, I'm going on an original tangent here on how the five teams interact. Thus, the next chapter will be between 9/12 and 9/16. That should be it. I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Teams RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW. And until nextx time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	11. Chapter VII: Ecru and Honeydew

(Roderick's POV)

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Leichter asks me. "One of the most important lessons life will teach you is that there is strength in numbers. By having an expansive friend circle, we'll be able to contact our allies with relative ease. In addition, camaraderie is important on maintaining a high morale." I explain my intentions. "Are you sure it's not because they seem to be outcasts? They don't exactly socialize with anyone outside of their respective teams." Stella says. "Trust me. Besides, we're not going to be alone. Teams RWBY and JNPR are going to be with us." I assure. "I-I guess there's no harm in trying." Chihiro meekly speaks. "Alright then. Let's go."

We met with RWBY and JNPR at the courtyard, exactly where we said to rendezvous. "You did invite them, right?" I ask. "Team ECRU should be here any second." Ruby confirms. "HYDW should also be here any second." Jaune supports. "So, now what? Just wait?" Blake asks. "We shouldn't have to wait long. Nothing important is happening today, and it's the weekend so we have quite a bit of time." Pyrrha speculates. "Well this is unexpected. I didn't expect this to be a large group." I hear a solemn voice behind me. Team HYDW had arrived. "Neither did I. What's going on?" A pleasant voice asks. On the other side, Team ECRU had approached us. "I gathered you here to get to know all of you better. Having a good camaraderie with our peers should positively affect our efficiency when we are on missions. I assume you would all agree." Murmurs and whispers of agreement resound in our circle. "Alright then. Shall we begin? Who will start?" I suppose. As long as tensions don't go negatively, this should go relatively well.

"I suppose I should." I hear to my right. "Hello. My name is Herald Razzmatazz. I'm the leader of Team HYDW." Herald had messy auburn hair and wore red reading glasses over his brown eyes. He wore a royal blue vest over his maroon long-sleeve shirt. His brown belt held up a slightly oversized pair of beige jeans. His shoes were denim grey with white laces. His symbol was on the back of his vest, the suit of clubs with the leaves of the clover being replaced with targets. "My weapon of choice are throwing knives, and my Semblance makes me the pen-ultimate master of sleight-of-hand. Watch." He took out a playing card from his pocket. With a snap of his fingers, it was gone. "I do enjoy a good magic show." He states. "Cool. I'll call it Trick-Touch!" Stella blurts. Herald seemed a bit surprised. "I, um, didn't know you named Semblances." He tells us. "WE don't. STELLA does." Leichter explains. "I personally see nothing wrong with it." The pleasant voice says again. "It shouldn't be a problem to unnamed Semblances." Weiss notes. "Okay then… Here's my signature knife, Youxi." He claps his hands and a checkered throwing knife appears in his palms. The blade was checkered silver and nickel, and the handle was checkered red and black. "Ooh…" I see Ruby ogle over it a little. "Isn't it just another throwing knife?" Blake asks. "Not really. It also serves as a silenced pistol with light Dust bullets. Though, I rarely fire it, seeing as I'm more used to throwing knives." He closes his left hand into a fist with the knife in it, he makes a throwing motion with it to the air, and Youxi vanishes. "Well, I believe it's your turn Midori."

"Oh, ok! Hi everyone! I'm Midori Yochu!" Midori seemed to be the shortest out of all of us, tied with Chihiro. Midori's hair was pitch black. She had it in pigtails and two strips of hair were made to resemble antennae. She was heterochromatic with her left eye being lime green and her right being bronze. She wore an olive-green poncho that extended only to her exposed navel. She seemed to have long, white sleeves under her poncho and her fingernails were painted orange. She also wore bell-bottom pants that were spiral in color, alternating from yellow and blue. She also wore black socks and red sandals. On the front of her poncho was her symbol; a pair of monarch butterfly wings attached to a string. "Oh, and I'm a Faunus!" She then unfolds a pair of butterfly wings. It was a kaleidoscope pattern of many shades of green, orange, brown, and yellow. "Uh, you sure you should be doing that?" Blake asks a bit too cautiously. "Yeah, why show that off considering how much controversy Faunus have been stirring?" One of ECRU asks. "I say let the haters hate. No skin off my back. Or wings. I show off who I am, loud and proud!" I see smiles across almost everyone's face. Namely, Weiss's wasn't smiling. She didn't seem to be hateful either, though. "Oh, here's my weapon. I weaponized this yo-yo with Aicho-power! Behold my beloved Kyutai!" She pulls out a yo-yo with sawblades etched into the wheel of the weaponized toy. It had a spiral pattern of red and blue on it. Ruby was once again in awe. "Cool…" She mewed. "Thanks! I didn't give it a gun feature. I figured it'd have enough range anyway. Especially since longer-range attacks are usually Dust-based. Which leads into my Semblance! I can use my wings to blow away any and all attacks that utilize Dust! Name me please!" Midori seems eager to have her Semblance named. "You got it! Hey! Let's work together more often! I want to see Wing-Ding in action!" Stella has now named Midori's Semblance. "Awesome!" Midori shouts. "Oh great, there's THREE of them…" Ren and Leichter deadpan.

The other girl of HYDW clears her throat. Everyone stops what they were doing to look at her. "Thank you. My name is Diane Limerick." Diane had straight limerick green hair extended down to her shoulders and had jade green eyes. She wore a seafoam green hooded sweater and left the hood down. She also wore chartreuse open finger gloves like my own. She wore moss green sweatpants and white combat boots. Her symbol was on her shoes; a plug with a battery symbol on it. "I'd advise you not to get too close to me physically. My Semblance is simple, but powerful. I can create electricity with my own hands, like arcane magic." She then made a gripping motion with her left hand, and sparks could be seen from her fingertips. What happened next surprised all of us; Nora just up and went and grabbed her hand while it was electrified. "That's amazing!" Nora said with a bright smile. Everyone, except Ren was flabbergasted when Nora felt almost nothing from the voltage. "W-What? How are you withstanding my?" Diane was cut short by the answer she was asking for. "MY Semblance allows me to channel electricity though my body." Nora's Semblance being this explained everything. No wonder she has s much energy. "That's… interesting…" Diane says, still in shock- oh great, Yang's puns are rubbing off on me. "Well, you've got Zap-Finger. What's your weapon?" Stella asks, naming Diane's Semblance. "Oh, right. Nora, can you please let go?" Diane asks politely. Nora complies. Diane then pulls out a necklace from under her sweatshirt. She pulls it off her neck ant the orb on the necklace turned into a rod. "This is Sifon. It is a lightning rod that pulls electricity towards it and channels that energy into compressed spheres of non-elemental damage. In a pinch, it can also be used as a bludgeoning tool." Ruby, unsurprisingly, gazes in awe. Diane then retracts Sifon and the strings that comprised of her necklace were soon rematerialized, as if they were never broken off in the first place. "Well then Mr. Wheatley. You are the last of us to introduce yourself."

"Oh, uh, right. Hello. I am Kallyn Wheatley, and, yeah that's it." Kallyn had light grey hair and had a simple buzz cut as his hairstyle. His eyes were an azure blue. He wore a mechanical-like light chest-piece. The interior part of the armor was true blue, and the plating was canary yellow. His leggings had a different color scheme. It was mechanical-like, same as his chest-piece, but the interior was instead a normal green and the plating was carrot orange. His boots were mechanical-like as well and the interior was iris purple and the plating was apple red. His gauntlets, however, were not mechanical. They appeared to be the same as a medieval knight's and was wheat brown in color. "I'll get it out of the way now. My Semblance basically turns me into a projector. When I look at something detailed from far away, I can project the object in perfect detail with my eyes." He looked toward Cardin's armor as he walked by. He then projected the armor from his eyes. It was the exact same chest-piece. "Nice! You're really good with that Sight-Screen of yours." Stella names his Semblance. "That's how you saw Ruby's drawing!" Chihiro exclaims. "You what?" Ruby asks. "It was quite a laugh we had. That was brilliant." Kallyn compliments. "Eheh, thanks…" Ruby says solemnly. "Oh, something happen to turn that into a sore subject? My bad. Hey, I know what will cheer you up! My weapon!" Kallyn pulls out a metal stick from his armor. It quickly becomes a trident of lemon yellow. "Behold: Kernehus!" Ruby's face instantly lights up. "All is forgiven!" Kallyn lets out a hearty laugh. "I also outfitted it to be an assault rifle as well! It fires water Dust rounds with spot-on accuracy!" He quickly retracts Kernehus and puts it back in his armor. "Well, that's all of us. Now it's your turn." Herald gestures to Team ECRU.

"Very well then. My name is Emmet Vio. I lead Team ECRU." Emmet Vio had curly black hair, but it wasn't very long, and his eyes were a bright violet. He wore a plum-colored leather jacket, kept it unzipped, and a tiffany blue shirt underneath. His silver belt fastened itself onto his black jeans with lavender trim. His sneakers were wine purple and ash grey. His symbol was on his undershirt and it was a sound wave resonating off a cube. "My Semblance, called Reverb, is pretty much the ultimate form of echolocation. With a snap of my fingers, I'll know exactly where someone is instantly." Emmet snaps his fingers while saying this. "Boo, I don't get to name it…" Stella pouts. Emmet lets out a small chuckle. He then proceeds to pull out a solid cube that looks like a microphone windscreen. Said cube was attached to a black string. "And this is my weapon. Risonanza. Not only is it very durable, it is the end of my flail, and it serves as a semi-auto handgun with gravity Dust shots when I need it. It's also my music player." This got a lot of people's attention. Except for Ruby who was fawning over the flail itself. "Why a music player? Wouldn't that disrupt your Semblance?" Chihiro asks. "Good question. There is an answer, and it's no. The music does help me focus in battle. In fact, the type of music I have playing in my ears can reflect how I fight in battle. With a rock song playing, I fight aggressively. But in a more delicate song, I fight a bit more gracefully." Emmet's fighting style mimics what song he listens to? He sure is interesting. "I believe that is the end of my turn. You're next, Clive."

"Very well. My name is Clive Gronn. Ever at the ready." Clive wore an entirely shamrock green set of armor. Chest plate, leggings, boots, and gauntlet. His blonde hair was flat, but parted at the center of his forehead. His eyes were basil green and he had a mole below the left side of his lip. His symbol was a pear green spearhead with a pineapple yellow circle around it. "My Semblance is called Bluster Balm. It allows me to control wind, and manifest its energy into compressed blades of tempestuous winds." Clive demonstrates by forming a small tornado on one of the palms of his hands. He then launches a wind cutter into the air with his other hand. Stella once again seemed upset that she couldn't name another Semblance. "I commonly use it for movement since my defensive armor does weigh me down a bit." Clive states. "That's actually very practical. With such a heavy defense, using your Semblance to increase your mobility can get you to the frontlines faster." Ren speculates. "Precisely. And this is my weapon. Behold; Vaengr!" Vaengr was a spear. The spearhead seemed to be made of emerald and the pole was jade green. Ruby looked at it in wonder, to the surprise of no one. "I use it as a sniper rifle with wind Dust bullets if I have to fight at long distance, but my trusted spear hasn't let me down once." Clive, what have you done? "Oh! My Crescent Rose is also a sniper rifle! Look!" Ruby pulls out her scythe and attempts to demonstrate it for everyone to see. "Woah! Easy Ruby! It's not our turn yet! Show it off later." Yang tells her sister. Ruby pouts a little before retracting Crescent Rose. "Thank you. I think I'm done now. Ruediger, you may begin."

"Hey. I'm Ruediger Rosa. Most people call me 'Reau'. You can call me Ruediger if you want to." Ruediger had very short brown hair and sky-blue eyes. He wore a red sweatshirt and orange shorts. Odd fashion choice, but I'm not one to judge that. His socks were basic white, and his gym shoes were pink and black. His symbol was sewn on the back of his sweatshirt, a cross inside the dark side of a crescent moon. "These are my weapons. Byt and Zgon" Ruediger pulls out his pair of obsidian claws from the pockets of his sweatshirt. Once again, Ruby was more than impressed. They were spiked where the fingers bend on the top of the hands. There seemed to be a pair funnels where the wrists are as well. "In addition to being claws, they are also mini double-barrel shotguns for dark Dust shells." He does a few battle-poses while explaining his weapons. "Cool. Just like me. Up close and personal!" Yang comments. Oh dear. "My Semblance is actually kind of useless in combat. Ghostly Whisper allows me to communicate with the dead. That's all it can do sadly." Everyone's faces became a little bit sullen. I guess there are some people who died in everyone's life that they wanted to speak with again. Nobody seemed to be willing to push Ruediger to talk with them though. "Sorry for ruining the mood. Uhai, would you mind?"

"Uhai Machun." He seems to be a blunt kind of person. He wore a white bandana on his head covering his umber brown hair. He wore a ginger orange jacket with wide sleeves. The sleeves ended in a pattern of red triangles, and the zipper was pitch black. His walnut brown jeans seemed a little bit too big and they were tucked into tiger orange boots. On the front of his bandana, lied his symbol. It was a quiver with a paintbrush in it instead of arrows. "My Semblance lets the art I make become real." He pulls out a piece of paper which had a drawing of an apple. He then took the apple outside of the drawing and proceeded to bite it. There were 'oohs' and 'ahs' all around us. Then Stella realized something. "Your Semblance doesn't have a name!" Uhai nods. "Correct." Stella makes a wide smile. "Well now it does! I dub thee, Still-Life." Stella seems proud of herself. "I like it." Uhai says. "My weapon. Kutisha. It is a bow. I can use it as a dual-sided blade if necessary. The string is unbreakable." Uhai seems to be a man of few words. Kutisha was a feathered bow. The bow itself was rust orange and the feathers were apricot-colored. The arrows seemed to be non-elemental Dust based. He then put his bow away after showing it off a little. And yes, Ruby enjoyed the mere sight of it. "We are done. It is your turn." That's right. Now that HYDW and ECRU had introduced themselves, WE had to introduce OURSELVES to THEM. "Okay then! We'll go next! Here's Team RWBY!"

(No POV)

After RWBY, JNPR, RSCL introduced themselves, Semblance and weapons and all, they started talking amongst ourselves for a while. The five teams were getting along rather well. Eventually, it became dark. The five teams departed for their dorms after exchanging contact information. The five teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training had just started a grand friendship.

 **Author's Notes**

 **And with that, Teams ECRU and HYDW have been fully revealed. Yeah, I know this is a filler chapter, but I did need to show ECRU and HYDW, and now was as good a time if ever. They will become more important later on in the story, but the main focus will be on RSCL. However, there may be spin-off stories about them later down the line. Speaking of stories; new stories are on their way to the Enigmatic Library. You'll find out what they are on 9/20. I'll tell you this; a new story is on the horizon and will be here in two weeks' time. However, that won't be before this story gets its next chapter; The Jaundice Arc. Like I said earlier, this is one of my least favorite arcs in RWBY since the 'useless Jaune' character trait was something that rubbed me the wrong way. Hopefully, I'll be able to do it some justice for those of you who like it. Anyways, expect it to come out between 9/18 and 9/22. I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Teams RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	12. Chapter VIII: Roll the JaunDice

(Leichter's POV)

Dear Lord, Jaune's doing terrible. HE and Cardin Winchester, leader of CRDL, were sparring with each other and Jaune looks completely out of it. He swings a few more times at Cardin with no results. Somehow, it wound up in a deadlock. "This is the part where you lose." Cardin announces to Jaune. "Over my dead-" Jaune is interrupted as Cardin knees him in his crotch. This results in Jaune collapsing to the ground, completely unarmed. Cardin raises his mace, seemingly to aim to end the fight. "Cardin, that's enough." Then a buzzer sounds and our teacher, Glynda Goodwitch, stops the fight. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match. Mister Arc, it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it's better to move to a more… defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf, now would we?" Jaune looks completely dejected. It's as if he knew he would lose. Or maybe that he's already lost something else. "Speak for yourself…" Cardin says. Apparently, Cardin doesn't care. With the moves he pulled on Jaune, it's safe to say that he fights without honor. "Now, we have time for one more practice match. I will generate out combatants randomly." Professor Goodwitch announces. She taps on her pad a few times and the match has been decided. This just got interesting. "Ruediger Rosa and Midori Yochu. Please step on stage." The two participants look at each other, and give each other competitive, but friendly looks. They then walk forward on the stage as Cardin and Jaune step off. "Let's go Ruediger!" Emmet cheers. "Do great Midori!" Kallyn shouts. "Fighters ready?" They both nod. "Begin!"

Ruediger is the first to make an offensive play by rushing towards Midori. Midori sidesteps Ruediger's initial charge and pulls out Kyutai. Ruediger equips Byt and Zgon quickly. Midori drops her yo-yo's body down, blades spinning. Ruediger grasps the yo-yo as it comes down with his claws. Sparks generated by two strong metals grinding against each other can be seen as the two weapons collide. Midori jumps up and slams her fist into the ground as hard as she can. The ripple effect on her string causes the sawblades to retract, but the body itself jerks into Ruediger's face, who is forced to let go. In retaliation, as the yo-yo retreats back to Midori, Ruediger shoots two dark dust shells at Midori in quick succession. She gets hit by one, but is able to dodge the other. Midori uses her yo-yo and wraps itself around Ruediger's other hand. She then forces Ruediger down to the floor with one pull downwards. Ruediger takes the hit, but is able to roll forwards and slash Midori's leg. What follows next is a martial arts battle. Midori emphasized on using kicks to repel Ruediger away, while Ruediger uses arm strikes to do the same. "Not bad Reau!" Midori praises. "You're pretty good yourself!" Ruediger compliments back. Eventually, they both step back a bit, and circle each other, waiting for the other to make the next move. I check the monitor. Both fighters are at 25% Aura at the end of their close quarters combat. The red zone is defined at 20% or lower. The next big hit may decide it. Ruediger makes a bold move and rushes forward, armed and aiming with his shotgun functions of Byt and Zgon. A terrible mistake, but Ruediger doesn't seem to remember why it is. As Ruediger runs toward her, Midori unfurls her butterfly wings and a she prepares to use her Semblance. As he fires, Ruediger looks at Midori and his face turns from one of total confidence, to one of pure shock and dismay. He realized it too little too late. Midori flaps her butterfly wings and the shells come straight back at Ruediger. They both hit his chest and he is sent back flying, a flash of fandango pink spreading across his body. Ruediger's mistake completely broke his Aura and the match was decided. The buzzer sounds. "Ms. Yochu wins."

Ruediger lays on the ground in defeat. He's smiling. And chuckling. That must have been quite a battle. Midori comes over and lends a hand to pick him up. "Man, I am a fool. Forgot about Wing-Ding and remembered it just a bit too late." Ruediger grasps her hand and pulls himself up. "Nah, you're not. It was a good move. But I thought you'd might try for that. I was open when I used it. If you hadn't gone for the Dust shells, I would've lost. But still, good game!" Both of them smile at each other before leaving the stage. Class was almost over and Glynda makes her last announcement. "Remember everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who chose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." Oh yeah, Atlas, Mistral, and hometown Vacuo are sending other teams for the festival too. I wonder if we'll meet Roderick's friends from Atlas. Hopefully not the racists. Personally, I don't care about the whole Human-Faunus dispute. But it gets seriously annoying to see people get mistreated for stupid reasons. Speaking of which, I'm concerned Midori may have just put a target on her winged back. A few of the students here, Team CRDL included, seem to seriously maltreat the Faunus students here. Now that it's known Midori is a Faunus, I'm worried she'll be bullied by those people too.

(Roderick's POV)

"So… there we were… in the middle of the night…" Nora tells. "It was day…" Ren says. "We were surrounded by Ursai…" Nora articulates. "They were Beowulves." Ren states. "DOZENS OF THEM!" Nora shouts. "Two of them." Ren corrects. "But they were no match. And in the end… Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora declares. That was an impossibility. One, Ren's statements completely contradict her story, and I'm more inclined to believe him over his eccentric friend. Two, if they were truly rich, they'd have something to show for it. And three… "She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now." Thank you Ren. But I suppose it doesn't hurt to dream. Maybe someday it actually WILL happen. I digress. "So, we going to address the low-hanging fruit?" Kallyn asks. "What do you mean?" Clive asks back. Kallyn jerks his head towards Jaune, and Clive immediately understands. "Jaune… are you okay?" Pyrrha asks. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?" Jaune stops staring at his food and jumps a little when Pyrrha asks him, concernedly. "It's just that you seem a little… not okay…" Ruby explains. "And it's not exactly subtle, either." Emmet backs. "Eh, guys, I'm fine… Seriously, look!" Jaune disguises his solemn behavior with a cheesy smile. It fools no one. "Honesty is best." Uhai states. "I-I am being honest!" jaune defies, still fooling no one. We then hear mocking laughter from a nearby table. Team CRDL seems to be making fun of a rabbit Faunus girl. I scowl. "Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha proclaims. "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah… he just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes!" Jaune denies. "Really? You're committing one of the biggest taboos of school by denying it." Leichter deadpans. "Denying what?" Jaune asks. "He's a bully." The other team leaders at the table state, myself included. It's true. Cardin Winchester and his team have been harassing multiple students at Beacon simply because they could.

I remember some of the stuff they've done to the many students here. Cardin once filled Chihiro's backpack with weights and threw it on top of a library bookshelf, knowing fully well that Chihiro could neither reach it herself, or use her Semblance to get it since it became heavier that her. She then tried climbing the bookshelf to get it herself, but it ended falling down on her and she ended up getting in trouble while Cardin got away, scot-free. There was also a time where Russel replaced Diane's pencil with an electric conductor while she wasn't looking. She ended up shocking half the classroom, including the teacher. When asked, CRDL immediately pointed at Leichter. Since Leichter is able to build stuff like that with relative ease, the professor immediately assumed he did it, and Leichter was punished for it. And then there was the time where Sky blew an airhorn in Emmet's ear. Nobody got in trouble for that. And then there was the time where Dove tampered with Starktronic. It ended up firing a rouge missile at the teacher. The teacher didn't see it as an accident and put Stella in Saturday detention last week. CRDL has been messing with all of us for an entire month now, and MY team seems to be getting the blame for it. They also seem to have a discrimination against Faunus too, as evident by the amount of times they've bullied the Faunus students here. Midori hasn't used her Faunus traits up until today. It's bad enough CRDL bullied her WITHOUT that knowledge. Now that everyone knows she's a Faunus, I fear Midori may be the new worst victim of CRDL's torment.

"Oh please… Name one time he's 'bullied' me…" Jaune scoffs. I am absolutely certain that the one who's BEEN getting the worst of it is Jaune. "Well, there was the time he smacked your books to ground from your hands. Classic bully move." Ruediger says. "Like I said, just messing around." Jaune attempts to deny. "And there was the instance where he activated your shield it the middle of a doorway." Kallyn adds on. "Yeah, what a jokester…" Jaune continues his futile attempt to protest. "He pushed you in a rocket-locker and shot you out of Beacon." Blake goes on. "I didn't land far from the school…" Jaune continues to drag on his rejection of the truth. "The real kicker is the time in a forest expedition he pulled your leg from behind, made you fall into me when I had my axe ready, I fell over and hit Professor Port with the wayside, knocking him unconscious! And I'M the one who got in trouble for it!" I declare. Yep. Even I am not exempt from his oppressive behavior. "Easy Rody. Breathe." Stella tells me. There's my temper starting to rise again. "Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask…" Pyrrha reassures Jaune. "OOH! We'll break his legs!" Nora suggests. If it weren't for the fact he'd probably tell on us, I would've actually agreed with her. "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, we all know he's not only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune still defends. "YOU THINK?" RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW all berate him.

"Ow, that hurts!" The rabbit Faunus exclaims. Cardin is pulling on one of her ears. Of course. I can feel myself wanting to cave his face in. "Please, stop…" the Faunus politely asks. "I told you it was real." Cardin declares. "What a freak." Russel insults. The girl manages to pry her ears free and walks away in shame. "Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha says. "He's not the only one." Blake stats. "It must be hard to be a Faunus." Yang solemnly says. "Stella." I say darkly. "Y-Yeah, Rody?" She asks nervously. "I want you to hold my torso, and DO NOT, under ANY circumstance, let go until Leichter gives you the okay." I order. "Uh, why?" She asks, unsure of what's about to happen. "JUST DO IT!" I snap. She does so immediately. I then attempt to charge at Cardin to give him a piece of my mind. Only I don't as Stella is holding me back. I am NOT getting in trouble again because of Cardin. That's why I asked Stella to do what she's doing right now. Everyone, including her, is wide-eyed at what my intentions were.

After a minute of trashing and not-so-silent cursing, I finally calm down and return to my lunch. "You can let go now, Stella." Leichter says. She does. Next thing that happens, an open milk carton is thrown on Midori's back. We all turn and stare at the source. "Have fun flapping now, freak!" Sky taunts. My team, Emmet's and Herald's all look at each other for one moment, and we all nod, as if we knew what we wanted to do. While CRDL laughs at their misdeeds, they look at us again. Their laughter immediately dies. They can feel my heat emanating from my Semblance, Stella gives them a stink-eye, Chihiro raises a palm to them, Leichter builds a razor and grips it firmly in his hand, Emmet cracks his knuckles, Clive has a wind ripper ready, Ruediger glares at them evilly, Uhai holds up a drawing of a frying pan, Herald materializes kitchen knives, Midori tightly grips a string, Diane's fingertips surge with voltage, and Kallyn folds his arms. CRDL immediately knew our intentions and returns to their lunches. They may be bullies, but they're not completely dumb. Even THEY know how dangerous the numbers game can be. I can immediately tell what we're all thinking.

(RSCL's, ECRU's, and HYDW's POV)

Oh, how I HATE them so much!

(Roderick's POV)

I will say this, Professor Oobleck's class is probably the most interesting of them all. Mostly because of his ludicrously fast talking and mad dashing across the room. "Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He quickly takes a sip of his drink, of which I am certain is coffee. Less than a second later, he resumes his lecture. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" Another sip. "Now! Have any of you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" A wolf Faunus raises his hand quickly. Midori immediately after. Velvet then raises her hand meekly. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" That is true. While Oobleck sips his drink, Clive was quick to react. "Isn't it also the reason the White Fang resorted to it's now… extremist methods?" He asks. Oobleck responds, "Precisely Mr. Gronn! Precisely! Now, moving on, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" A few hands raise. "Yes, Ms. Schnee." Weiss is quick, and proud, to answer. "The battle at Fort Castle!" She seems to be correct. "Precisely!" Oobleck declares. "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Oobleck asks. I was about to raise my hand, but something catches the corner of my eye; Cardin flicking a paper football onto Jaune's head. "Hey!" Jaune calls out. Unfortunately, Oobleck heard him. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" Oh brother. It's common knowledge that Jaune has been struggling in multiple classes since day one. And, of course, one of those classes is History, which is the class we are in now. "Uhhhh… the answer… The advantage… of the Faunus… had over that guy's stuff…" Oobleck's face starts becoming unamused. Pyrrha coughs and starts making motions to Jaune as if to signify something. Mainly, with her eyes. Unfortunately, it can be interpreted in multiple ways. I knew the answer, but even I couldn't fathom how what Pyrrha was doing was supposed to even remotely resemble it. "Um, B-binoculars!" Numerous students laugh, Cardin included. I also notice Diane, Clive, and Pyrrha facepalm. Oobleck was not amused. "Very funny, Mr. Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on the subject!" Cardin looks smug as he gives his blatantly racist answer. "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." I stand up. "Oh, like you're one to talk Mr. Football!" I snap. "It's Mr. Winchester to you, Rodney. And I didn't flick that paper. It was Mr. Fixer over there who did it." He points at Leichter, who's sleeping in class. Again. "Amusing how you would think that Cardin. Considering the placement of the paper projectile, it could only have come from behind. And from what I see, Mr. Xandercat is directly next to Mr. Arc on his left, fast asleep…" Oobleck pauses. "I will address that later. And Mr. Montague, please sit back down." I do. "Anyway, does anyone have the answer to the question I asked Mr. Arc?" Pyrrha raises her hand. "It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." Cardin growls a little at getting shown up by the Invincible Girl. "Correct! And, Mr. Xandercat!" He moves to Leichter. "Sleeping in class, again are we? Can you tell me why night-vision helped the Faunus win the battle at Fort Cast- "He doesn't get to finish, as Leichter raises his head from his slumber, eyes looking unfathomably tired and disappointed. "General Lagune decided it would be a smart idea to attack the Faunus at night while they were sleeping. Because of said night vision, his army was almost completely outmatched and General Lagune was captured by the enemy. He was later released at the end of the war, bringing shame to his militia for his ignorance and was promptly demoted." My partner's deadpan response was perfect. "Well then, it seems you are paying attention in class after all, Mr. Xandercat." Oobleck praises. "Yeah. Perhaps if General Lagune had paid attention in HIS classes, maybe he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." Blake responds. There were a lot of snickering at Cardin's expense. I, myself, was struggling to keep a loud burst of laughter in. Cardin gets up, ready to beat the three who ridiculed him. "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat. You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings. And Mr. Xandercat, how do you pay attention wile fast asleep?" "Trade secret. I'll tell you in private later. I'll see you after your additional readings with Jaune and Cardin to tell you when and where. Now can I go back to sleep and listen to your, quite frankly, fascinating lecture?" Leichter asks, with his signature deadpan expression. "Flattery will get you nowhere Mr. Xandercat. However, you do seem to be doing quite well in my class. Very well, let's move on!" The rest of Oobleck's class goes by without any interruptions, still going by very quickly to cram in as much History as fathomably possible.

(Leichter's POV)

Ah nighttime. The time where I can gaze upon the vast, beautiful night sky. I am at my favorite spot in all of beacon, the balcony. It has the perfect view of the stars and the broken moon. I am currently waiting for Professor Oobleck to arrive. Or rather, I was. While I was stargazing, he zipped towards me. "Alright Mr. Xandercat. What did you want to tell me?" I stand up. "It's less what I want to TELL you, and more what I want to SHOW you." I turn my back towards the professor and roll up my shirt. I show him my trade secret. A pair of bat wings, attached to my shoulder blades. "You are a Faunus? A bat Faunus at that. So that would mean…" "Yes, I am nocturnal. And yes, I have almost perfect hearing at all times. But no, I'm not blind." I answer quickly, unlike the me at day who is groggy. "I see, then why hide it?" He asks. "I believe you know the answer from one, Cardin Winchester." He understands immediately. "I see. And I suppose the reason for you wanting this to be private is…" "So that nobody else knows." Oobleck nods his head. "And I respect that. But I have to ask, out of everyone here, you kept this a secret from everyone all your life, even your teammates. So why tell me?" I think hard a bit before answering. "Firstly, you're the only teacher who catches me sleeping in class." Oobleck looks a bit disappointed. "But mostly, it's because I feel like you're the one who knows the most about Faunus that any other human here. And, I want to have intellectual conversations Faunus-to-Man." Oobleck's eyes lighten up. Or at least, that's what I could interpret from his glasses. "I see then. Well, your secret's safe with me." I smile. "Thanks Professor Oobleck." "It's Doctor Oobleck actually. I didn't earn the PhD for fun." We both share a small laugh before Oobleck departs. I then notice Jaune laying on the roof of one of the schoolhouses. I also notice Cardin jump off the same roof. For Oum's sake, what did you do now Jaune? Or rather, what did Cardin do to you?

 **Author's Notes (11/2)  
**

 **I'm back! My schedule kept me booked for a long time and I had no way of getting to write this story until 11/1. Here's hoping nothing like that happens again. Although, knowing my luck, it will. Anyway, I know this chapter is short, and that I said the rest of Jaundice and Forever Fall would be one chapter. But after re-watching that part of RWBY, there's a time-skip between those two points of time. Therefore, I have decided to merge Chapter 8 with this part instead. The author's notes of that chapter will still be here, it's after this set of author's notes. Also, yeah, plot twist! Leichter being a Faunus is something I've always had planned. He is known for being drowsy in the day, but more active at night. But he's not going to share this knowledge to anyone. I'm sure you can figure out why. Now that my schedule is clear, I can safely say that the true chapter 9 will be posted between 11/9 and 11/11. That should be all. I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Teams RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW. And until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **Author's Notes (10/3)  
**

 **Yes, I know this was a pretty short chapter, but I honestly felt that, for once, splitting an arc into two chapters would be better. Part of it is because the Jaundice arc is the second longest arc, only behind the Beacon Entrance Exams, of Volume 1. But mostly, I couldn't find a good way to implement it into one chapter well, since technically Forever Fall and Jaundice are two different fragments of the story. That and none of RSCL, the main focus of this story, would be around to see Jaune confess everything to Pyrrha and get blackmailed by Cardin. Therefore, Oobleck's lecture, and the entirety of Forever Fall will be one chapter, so the Jaundice arc is still going. Oh by the way, the title of this story actually has more significance that at first glance. The duel between Midori and Ruediger was not part of canon. So how did it come into play? Dice roll. How did I determine who would be the combatants? Dice roll. How did I determine who would win? Dice roll. Yeah, it could've gone in any way, shape or form. I believe I do need to address something, I am, for the first time, late on something. I was supposed to give the updated library schedule on 9/20. Internet died on that day. I posted it yesterday, but it was only today that I noticed a few problems with it. It shouldn't be that bad of an inconvenience though. I believe this is all I wanted to say other that the obvious.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	13. Chapter IX: Crestfallen

(Chihiro's POV)

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Leichter asks us. We're currently in our dorm room discussing an important matter. "Didn't you ask the exact same thing when we met ECRU and HYDW?" Stella questions. Leichter opens his mouth to respond, but suddenly pauses. "… Actually, yes." Stella brightens up immediately. "And we know that it ended up being a great idea! So what's different?" Roderick speaks up. "This time, we're dealing with someone who is already our friend. Or, at least, he was." We all nod. "Jaune's been scarcely hanging out with us lately. Moreover, he's been socializing with CRDL of all people." I explain. It wouldn't be that hard to discern this sudden change in behavior. "Worse, Cardin's been making Jaune do all the stuff CRDL would normally be doing to us. I'm finding it harder and harder to consider Jaune a friend anymore." Stella further elaborates. "True, our affinity with JNPR's leader has been strained lately, but we have reason to believe that it's not Jaune's fault. Leichter, you know why, right?" Roderick states. "Not entirely. All I know is that whatever Pyrrha and Jaune talked about on that rooftop a week ago, it must've been pretty bad. And I think Cardin's using it as blackmail against him." Leichter answers. "Have you talked with Pyrrha about it?" Stella asks. "I tried, but every time I bring Jaune up, she dodges the question, sometimes leaving the conversation entirely." Leichter answers. We all stay silent for a while, lost in thoughts. That's when we heard a knocking on our door. "I'll get it." Stella says.

When we open the door, we see something very concerning. Herald's hands stuck to a book, I assume super-glued, Midori trapped in a straitjacket, Uhai with black ink on his eyes, and Clive's armor painted pink. Looking at Clive without his armor ON, is a bit surreal. He wore a seafoam green T-shirt, brown shoes, and black gym shorts, all of which looked too big on him. He also looked underweight. His armor either must be murder on his muscles, or his armor has the capability of reducing it's weight on the wearer. Diane was right behind them, but nothing looked wrong with her. Emmet, Ruediger, and Kallyn were nowhere to be seen. "Let me guess. Jaune and CRDL?" Stella asks. Everyone at the door nods as if she answered correctly. "Come on in." Roderick says.

"So what are we going to do about Jaune?" Clive asks. "Whatever Cardin has over Jaune must be either very embarrassing, or very scandalous." Herald responds. "Not embarrassing." Uhai retorts. We all give him confused looks. Except Midori. "No, Uhai's right. Knowing Jaune, he's not exactly embarrassed of himself. At least, not easily." We all nod in acknowledgement. "Yeah. I remember seeing him in bunny pajamas first night here. And he seemed pretty proud of himself then." Stella responds. "So now that we-" Another knock on the door cuts Roderick off. "Who's there? He asks. The door opens revealing Emmet, Ruediger, and Kallyn with very wet hair. And… sweating? "What happened?" Leichter asks. "CRDL. We went into our dorms and they rigged the doors so that they'd dump buckets of paint on us when we walked in. We had to take showers before getting here." Emmet responds. So it's not sweat, it's water. I wonder what they looked like in the… STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! "You okay Chihiro?" Kallyn asks. "Oh! No… I'm fine…" I lie. I hoped it was convincing, but it seems I didn't need to be. The CRDL-Jaune issue was more important.

"As I was saying, now that we established that whatever Cardin has over Jaune must be in the low moral ground somewhere, we just have to figure out what in order to help him cope with it. Assuming he's not a criminal or murderer, we should be able to help him." Roderick finally finishes. "Problem is, the only people who know are Cardin and Pyrrha, and neither seem to be willing to disclose that information." Ruediger states. "So what do we do?" I ask. "Diane's been awful quiet. Perhaps she knows a way to help?" Clive questions. Diane starts to look down in shame. "Not by choice. Diane, just show them." Midori says. Diane then opens her mouth, and there's a ludicrous amount of gum in there. "Cardin had Jaune sabotage her food with a bubblegum bomb. It hurt her for only a second, but the gum makes her unable to speak until it dissolves. Which, unfortunately, takes 12 hours." Kallyn says. "I was going to give her a pen and notebook, so she could write her responses, but wouldn't you know it, the one I had to pick was the one glued to my hands. I assume Jaune did this by Cardin's order." Herald explains. We all look a bit crestfallen.

Truth be told, we were not exempt from this misery either. Roderick was trapped in a freezer after Cardin made Jaune spike his drink with a sleeping drug. Jaune also informed CRDL when Stella was walking past their dorm to ours. Lucky us. Once Jaune was forced to give the signal, CRDL flung open the door on Stella's face, which hurt even more due to Stella's Iron-Will Semblance. And I was trapped in our own dorm thanks to CRDL putting a massive, and heavy object in front of the door, so I couldn't use my Semblance to move it away. In fact, the only one of us who hasn't been targeted yet is Leichter, which deeply concerns me with what they have planned for him. In the end, we all decided to sleep on it for the night and reconvene after the field trips our respective professors had planned tomorrow. We were all getting tired. After the others left, we all got ready for bed. Well, almost all of us. I, personally, went out for a walk, with Phasisstutter. After CRDL's constant abuse on us, all of us, RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW, decided it's not safe to be anywhere alone without our weapons until the whole thing is finally resolved. This causes a whole new set of problems with the teachers, but at the time, we didn't care as long as it saved us from being bullied. "Oh, Hello Chihiro!" I look up. And who do I see on my stroll, but the one who gave me the inspiration I needed to be ere in the first place. "Hey Yang."

"So what's been going on?" Yang asks me. "Well, apart from Jaune's sudden affiliation with CRDL and their constant bullying getting us into trouble, I'd say pretty good." I say, unenthusiastically. Yang catches on quickly. "Yeesh, that bad, huh?" Yang genuinely looks concerned. "You honestly don't know the half of it. You should've seen what they did to the others." I say, dejectedly. "Man, I really wish I could do something about it without getting in serious trouble." Yang says. "Yeah…" I said sullenly. "Hey, Chihiro. Sometimes, things like this happen. You just have to stand up for yourself sometimes. Let them know that you're not one who'll let people step all over them." Yang tried to cheer me up. It does work, for the most part. "You should tell Jaune that." I say. Yang eyebrow raises up. "Was that sass coming from you Chihiro?" It was only then I realize I said that in a snarky tone of voice. I immediately cover my mouth and start blushing profusely. Yang chuckles. "Don't worry, I'm just messing with ya." That didn't help my current problem. "Well, look on the bright side. You're already getting braver!" Yang says. "I-I guess that's true. I still think I wouldn't be able to do much in a one on one though…" I say. True, in close quarters, I don't necessarily have an advantage. Especially since my Semblance won't work on anything heavier than I am, which unfortunately includes most of the students at Beacon. I've been mostly sticking with a supportive role with my team. "Well, you'll just have to train harder and harder until you're able to hold your own. Right?" Yang encourages. "I suppose it is. Thanks Yang." I'm glad we had this little heart-to-heart together.

After some parting words, I went back to the dorm, but, then I heard something. Something close by, on my way to the dorm. I remember CRDL's dorm being three doors apart from ours, so we unfortunately have to deal with more of their antics. I hid behind a corner and listened in. It was Cardin. "Hey! It's your buddy Cardin. I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuut, I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of rapier wasps." I then hear Jaune gasp a little. "And make sure they've got some reaaally big stingers. It's important, so don't screw this up!" Rapier wasps? What does Cardin need those for? I listen in again. "Hehehe! That know-it-all girl and fix-em-up boy won't know what hit them!" I widen my eyes. I make a small, portal, invisible from sight, to make sure Cardin enters his dorm before I enter mine. Once he's in, I rush as fast, and quietly, as possible. I silently open the door, however, as the rest of my team might be asleep. Sure enough, they were. I'll have to tell them tomorrow, as soon as possible. Pyrrha and Leichter might be in serious danger!

(Roderick's POV)

So the field trip to Forever Fall has come. Herald had gotten his hand unstuck from the book his hands were superglued to. I was the one who did it. Unfortunately, whatever was in that book was lost forever, as the only way to remove the notebook was to burn it. Herald quickly got to work and undid Midori's straitjacket. In addition, Diane's gum had completely dissolved. Clive had managed to get all of the pink paint off his armor, thanks to Leichter who made a color-restoration device. Lastly, Uhai simply washed the ink off his eyes with soap and water. Simple yet effective, perfect for a simple prank like that. After getting prepared, and a good meal, we left for the forest of Forever Fall.

On the trip, ECRU and HYDW were not going with us. They didn't have Professor Peach, like we did. The instead had Professor Obsidian, who instead had Oobleck take them, to the Remnant Historical Museum. Specifically, the Faunus Revolution exhibit. As far as I knew, none of Professor Obsidian's class had any racists against Faunus, so I guess it was alright. It gets Midori away from CRDL, who is unfortunately with us. Hopefully, Professor Goodwitch can keep them in check. As we walked through the forest, we all took in the breathtaking sights. "Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." We all stop for a moment, in the center of the forest. Jaune stumbles into Cardin, who gives him a mean look. Speaking of Jaune, he was carrying seven jars, one for him, the others for CRDL. I wonder what the other two are for. He also had… a box? Why does he need that box for? No matter. What is needed is to learn and complete the assignment. Goodwitch continues. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun! I then hear Cardin. "C'mon buddy. Let's go." Jaune depressingly goes with CRDL, much to the chagrin of his partner, Pyrrha. Leichter and Stella decide to go in the same direction as RWBY and JNPR. I and Chihiro opted to go another direction. We decided that we need to learn how to fight with other teammates other than our partners. So that's why we split up like we did.

I know why Jaune is the leader of the team, his tactical prowess is second only to Strategist Mulberry McQuincy, who takes orders directly from, and is a close friend with my father, Corporal Zaffre Montague. I heard from my father that one of McQuincy's tactics had resulted in a flawless excursion against a horde of Grimm. No casualties, no injuries, only success. Also, according to my father, McQuincy was offered a promotion from his station to Corporal as well. Oddly, he declined, saying there was no better honor than helping his friend in the ring of honor. Mulberry McQuincy was a huge inspiration to most of the aspiring Huntsmen in Atlas. I wonder if Jaune learned a thing or two from his books. No seriously. McQuincy published numerous books on Chess strategies of all things. It actually served quite well. While it didn't expose any of the Strategist's secrets or techniques, it definitely improved the reader's way of thinking to be more strategic in a given situation. I find myself reading his books on numerous occasions. My train of thought is interrupted by Chihiro tapping on my elbow. I turn to face her. "Yes?" Chihiro looks worried. "We need to talk. It's about Cardin and Jaune." Chihiro says. "We said we'd talk about it after the field trip, Chihiro." Chihiro shakes her head. "No, we need to talk about this now! Pyrrha and Leichter might be in danger!" That got my attention. "What's happening?" I ask. "I don't know. Cardin asked Jaune to get some rapier wasps and-" "RAPIER WASPS?!" Chihiro nods her head. I curse under my breath. What has Jaune done this time? Rapier wasps are attracted to the sap in the trees here… "Oh no…" It was at this moment I realized what Cardin had planned. "Chihiro! WE need to get to the others. Now!" WE immediately run towards the rest of our team, hoping to save them from a cruel fate.

(Jaune's POV)

Collecting all that sap for SIX jars is exhausting, believe it or not. SEVEN is when it starts becoming horrible. When I get them to my 'friends' I collapse on the grass. "Hey. Great work, Jauney boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" I feel horrible, and not in the emotional way. The physical way. "I think I'm allergic to this stuff." I say. Cardin, as always, doesn't seem to care. "Great, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet your asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect seven jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?', right?" I start regaining what little composure I have again. "That is one of the many questions that I have asked myself today, yes." I get up on me knees. "Well, come with me and you'll find out." I groan and gulp in worry. What does Cardin have planned this time?

We all crawl up to the hill. Why crawl? Does Cardin not want us to get seen by someone? Then, who? I look over the hill, and see my teammates, all of RWBY, and half of RSCL. Wait, half? Where's Roderick and Chihiro? I turn towards my 'buddy' and ask, "Cardin, what's going on?" Cardin doesn't bat me an eye, and simply says, "Payback." I look closely at who Cardin is staring at. As I trace is line of sight, I see Pyrrha and Leichter collecting sap from the same tree. "Pyrrha? Leichter?" I ask. "What are you-" I am cut off by Cardin. "That's them all right. Red-haired know-it-all thinks she's so smart. And Orchid-haired sleepy-headed fix-em-up wise-guy." This can't be good. "Alright, boys. Last night, ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps. And now, we're gonna put 'em to work." Russel pats me on the back and shakes me a little as I laugh nervously. "Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things looove sweets. I'm thinkin' it's time we teach them a thing or two." He holds his hand out and gestures for me to grab it. He then pulls up a bit too quickly. "And you're gonna do it. Well, at least half of it." He then shoves one of the jars into my hands. "Do half of what?" I ask. "Hit one of them with the sap. Sky'll get the other one. That, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." I look at CRDL, and see all of their mal-intent-filled faces. But what choice do I have. I stand up, and aim.

I eye them both, wondering which one I should hit with the sap. Pyrrha's my partner, but Leichter's been helping me fine-tune my shield. I originally though for a second that Leichter would be the obvious choice, considering Pyrrha's on my team. But then something Ruby said to me rung out. 'We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second.' That's when it hits me, that there IS a third option. "No."

"What did you say?" I hear Cardin ask me from behind. "I said… NO!" I throw the sap at Cardin. Then immediately regret it. A sap-covered Cardin grins. But not happily, not maliciously, angrily. "Oh-ho-ho. You've done it now!" He then grabs the sap out of Sky's hand, who is surprisingly taken aback by this. He then throws it at me. Now we're both covered in sap. He then reaches out to grab me, and I can only think how this could possibly get worse.

(No POV)

An Ursa Major sniffs the sudden smell of a honey-like substance. It begins to track it to its origin. It passes another Ursa Major on the way. However, one chooses to follow behind, instead of rushing to catch up. But both are after the same thing. Hunting for the smell, and any prey that happens to be nearby.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Yeah, yeah, I know. This isn't the entirety of Forever Fall. But I wanted to practice something new; Cliffhangers! How will Jaune be able to deal with, not one, but TWO Ursa Majors. (Even though watchers of the original RWBY already know what's going to happen, probably.) I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters. I only own Teams, RSCL, ECRU, HYDW, and the character; Zaffre Montague. I don't own Mulberry McQuincy, but a friend of mine, who wishes to stay anonymous, wanted me to add him into this story. We felt like Mulberry would help expand on Roderick a little, so I decided to put him in. You won't get to know what he looks like until he physically appears in the story. RWBY watchers should have a feint idea of when that will be. What's that? The disclosure was too early, and I didn't give a date for the next chapter before-hand? Well, if you look on my profile, you'll notice that THREE new stories are currently in production, two with first-chapter release dates confirmed. I'll be releasing those first, then finish Volume 1 of RWBY here, then go on to A Soul-bound Soldier, then cycle between the four. Surprisingly, if things go well, Soul-bound Soldier should be the first one to be finished, and then the stories in queue move up from there. So because of this, next chapter here will be somewhere between 12/8 and 12/14. Hopefully, things go well. This would've gone up a few hours ago. But, whoop-de-doo, the website decided to crash on me! Also, the 11/20 story still has letter hidden (See if you can guess what it is) while the 11/30 story, Data Mine, has a definitive genre and title. Why? I accidentally switched that one for another story WAY down the line (It's the fully hidden one [not the birthday one]). There was no point in hiding THAT then. Enough rambling, see you 11/20 for the story that HASN'T been fully revealed yet. Until then, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	14. Chapter X: But Not Forever

(Jaune's POV)

Yeah, Cardin is beating me senseless for what I did. Am I regretting it? Maybe a little. But I put my friends before myself, so I'm not going to complain. My body's doing that for me. "You know that wasn't very smart Jauney-Boy." Cardin mocks me. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny pieces." The pain from this is really killing me here. But… "I don't care what you do to me. But you're not messing with my team. Or my friends." For them, I'm willing to take any of the brunt Cardin has for me. "What, you think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" I weakly give out a smile as my only response. Cardin goes to punch my face in, only for a flash of white.

Wait… Flash of white? Since when… I look up and see Cardin is clutching his hand in pain for some reason, and he's let go of me, leaving me to fall to the ground. I look at my hands as they glow white. I'm confused as to what had happened. Then I feel someone's foot go down on me as I get pushed down into the ground. I look up and see Cardin, Russel, and Dove glaring down at me, so I can only assume Sky is the one forcing me down. "Let's see how much of a man you really are." Cardin taunts me. However, their smug looks instantly go away with two loud snarls from behind them. We all look and see the source, two Ursa Majors. I feel Sky's foot get off of me, so I assume that he's backing away from the imminent threat. "Those are some big Ursa!" Russel exclaims. And Cardin's teammates bolt out of there.

One of the Ursa sniffs the area, then concentrates it on Cardin. Did the sap attract them here? Good thing I didn't put any air holes in the Rapier Wasp box, or things would've gotten worse really quick. I'm surprised Cardin didn't notice that the box wasn't vibrating at all. He did say to bring him Rapier Wasps, he never said they had to be alive. The two Ursa seem to be focused on Cardin's sap covered armor, and they make quick work of disarming him. As much as I would love to see karma, that's not what a hero would do.

(Roderick's POV)

We heard the roaring from where we were. If I were to guess, I'd say that the sap from the trees attracted something unwanted to CRDL. How fortunate that the direction of them was the same way we were going. Mainly because we saw Russel, Sky, and Dove running, so we can assume the beast, or beasts, are the opposite direction. "Ursa! Ursa!" Russel calls out. Yang grabs Russel as he runs away from the, now confirmed, Ursa. "What? Where?" She asks. "Back there! They've got Cardin!" I see Pyrrha drop her jar of sap, oddly not breaking it. "Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaims. "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby calls out. "You four, go with them." Pyrrha orders. As for me and Chihiro, we ran straight ahead to the Ursa, so we didn't see who Pyrrha was calling out, nor whatever she said after. I can only assume it was Ren, Nora, Leichter, and Stella. Regardless, we had to stop those Ursa.

When we get to a clearing, sure enough, we see two Ursa Major chasing Cardin, who's armor is covered in sap. He stumbles over, allowing the two to get closer to Cardin and close the gap. As much as we hate them, it's out job as Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect those who need it. And now, unfortunately, Cardin needs it. I rush forward and attempt to intercept the Grimm. It, sort of worked. As in, I could only get one of them. I try to get leverage against the Ursa Major, but it's force is too great for me to gain anything, resulting in a deadlock. I see Chihiro rush toward my aid, only to get toppled by Cardin, who stumbled again. The Ursa closes in on the two of them. "NO!" I shout, but I know if I let up for a single moment, the Ursa I'm dealing with will get ME. I can only hope help arrives soon.

(Chihiro's POV)

I feel Cardin's body on top of mine as the Ursa Major looms over us its claws ready to pierce through us both. Wait, isn't this sort of the same situation in which I rescues Stella? I notice Jaune get between us before the Ursa could strike us. Jaune holds back the Ursa with his shield for a bit, almost resulting in a deadlock like Roderick's situation. Jaune, however, had a free hand and used his sword to fend the Ursa off further. I think now would be a good time to secure safety. "Cardin, could you please get off me?" I ask him. Cardin says nothing and rolls over a little, setting me free from his weight.

I look up after dusting myself off and see Jaune evade two of the Ursa's swings. However, on his second dodge, he jumps into the air. This left him vulnerable to a blow from the Ursa. Jaune takes the hit, rolls over, and quickly gets up on his feet. He then rushes forward to fight the Grimm some more. "Jaune! Focus on defense!" I suggest. Jaune rushes forward to slash the Grimm, but notices the Ursa Major wind up to strike him again. He quickly pulls his shield up and it manages to block the hit, but the force still pushed Jaune back. His feet slides against the ground, ruining the landscape as Jaune regains his traction. Jaune rushes forward one more time and engages the Grimm again. In the corner of my eye, I see Pyrrha raise her hand to him. I feel a force not unlike my own. I then see Jaune's shield move to the perfect position for Jaune to counter attack. He stands firm, and slices the Grimm's head off, killing it instantly.

I run toward Pyrrha, who was with Ruby and Weiss. "How did you…?" Weiss begins to ask. "Well, like Ruby has her speed, Chihiro has her gravity, and you have your glyphs. My semblance is polarity." Pyrrha explains. Polarity, the ability to- "Ah, you can control poles." Ruby says. "Uh, no!" Weiss snaps. "Actually, she's not wrong." I meekly say. "Magnetism, another way of explaining Pyrrha's semblance, utilizes the north and south poles of an object's magnetic force. The stronger the pole, the greater force required to magnetize it." I elaborate. "Yeah. Magnetism. Got it." Ruby corrects herself. Weiss seems to smile. "I could certainly use some help here!" Roderick shouts. Seems like no progress was made with the Ursa he had in deadlock. I look over at Jaune, who had just picked up Cardin. "Don't ever mess with my team, OR my friends, ever again. Got it?" He says to the bully. Cardin only nods in response. "Uh, guys, I think someone else could use your help." I say. The two turn to see Roderick and the remaining Ursa struggle against each other's force. "I got it." Jaune says.

Jaune strikes the Ursa from the back. The Ursa immediately takes notice of this and turns to Jaune. Roderick, seeing his chance, slashes the Ursa's back with his axe. The Ursa Major looks back and forth between the two Huntsmen in training, being forced to split its own attention. It chooses to rush towards Roderick who forces it into deadlock once again. Jaune takes the chance to go for the Ursa again, but it uses one of its legs to hold Jaune back. I see that it's balance is slightly toppling. Perhaps if something were to disrupt that balance… I fire a portal at the Ursa's sole foot on the ground. I tilt the exit portal in a way so the Ursa's foot became unbalanced, away from anyone else nearby. This proved to be enough to topple the Grimm, and Jaune took the opportunity to thrust his sword into the Grimm's head, killing it. Jaune and Roderick give me a thumbs up for the assist. I blush a little and smile at their praise. "Well. Best not keep everyone else waiting. Let's make our return." Roderick says, coming toward us.

As we make our way back, us girls find ourselves a fair distance away from the boys. "So are we going to tell them what happened?" Ruby asks. "We could." Pyrrha says. "Or, perhaps, we could just keep it our little secret." Pyrrha finishes. I look over at Jaune, who seemed very proud of himself. "Yeah. It's for the better." I say. I then blurt out; "Pyrrha, please teach me how to be stronger!" I quickly cover my hands. Pyrrha then looks back at me and smiles. "Sure Chihiro. I can help you with close quarters combat. With the way you handle most situations, I know that'd be a weak point." Pyrrha says. I can feel my eyes widen and my hopes rise. Just you wait everyone. I won't be just support anymore. I will be able to protect those I want to. Just like…

(Roderick's POV)

I turn back towards the others who fell behind. I see Chihiro with resolve in her eyes… and a blush on her face. I guess this is one of those off times Chihiro doesn't realize the perverted things she has in her mind and letting it all flow in her head. Thankfully, not saying it out loud. That would be another disaster in of itself. One about just as hard as Jaune's issue, which can be safely said has been put to rest. I'm exhausted though. I'm sure our friends with Oobleck are too after his long-winded and fast-paced speeches. Perhaps we should discuss this tomorrow.

(Leichter's POV)

After the resolution of whatever happened in Forever Fall, everyone went to bed. Well, mostly everyone. For me, I was once again sitting on the balcony, viewing the night sky I admired with all my heart. I then look at the rooftop of the dorms and see Jaune and Pyrrha together, assumedly in reconciliation. No Cardin in sight either. That was good. Seems things are finally getting back to where they should be. But what do I know? I never saw what happened. Oh well. What can you do?

 **Author's Notes;**

 **A bit of a shorter chapter than I anticipated, but I couldn't find a good cut-off point other that Leichter over-viewing Jaune and Pyrrha's reconciliation. Somewhere between the Jaundice Arc and the Black and White Arc was a considerable time-skip, so I may or may not have to do something to fill in that gap.**

 **Speaking of gap, I noticed that I finished this chapter sooner that I thought I would. Mostly because, again, it wound up being shorter that I expected it to be. Because of this, I have a surprise for you! Another chapter of Data Mine will come out 12/14, in addition to the one I promised at 12/25. How's that for a bonus! The next chapter here will be between 12/26 and 12/28, so be ready. I think I figured out a solid schedule for my various fanfics.**

 **Anyway, onto the more important stuff. Jaune seems to have steeled his resolve, if only a little. But it was enough for him to stand up for himself rather than letting everyone trample over him. He even dealt two finishing blows on two Ursa Major. The second Ursa Major was not a part of canon, but this fic does deviate from it a little. Things are constantly changing. For better and for worse…**

(No POV)

"So, Mikhail. What brings you here?" Roman Torchwick asks. "I don't know. Taurus just sent me here to check on you. So here I am. And now, I have to help you out for who knows why." Mikhail bluntly says. "Look, we have a huge dust heist planned in a few weeks, so just tell your boss that I'm perfectly fine." Roman retorts. "Oh, you misunderstand. Taurus ain't my boss. That's Sienna's job. I take orders directly from her and her alone. She sent me here to check on Taurus, who sent me here to check on you. Ain't that funny?" Mikhail laughs. It's eerie. "Whatever." Torchwick says and walks off. Mikhail then rambles to himself. "Make sure Taurus is in line she said. It'll be simple she said. NOW I'm freakin' Taurus's errand boy! The amount of stuff I do for you, Sienna." Mikhail's Scroll then buzzes. He picks it up. "Yeah? What do you want?" _"How would you like to be a part of a faction that brings about revolution?"_ Mikhail's left eyebrow raises. "What do you mean?" _"I will send you the invitation. Arrive on the date, time, and place specified. Show up if you are interested."_ "Hey, wait a-" The phone call drops then and there. Mikhail looks at his Scroll and sees the rendezvous information. He quickly puts it away before anyone can see. "Tch. Hopefully, things won't go so south in where I have to accept." Mikhail says. He then walks off into the night. The significance of this phone call, however, will be measured in due time.

 **I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Team RSCL and Mikhail. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


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